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Vidigal, a Rio de Janeiro favela

A favela is the Brazilian equivalent of a shanty town, which are generally found on the edge of the city. They have electricity, but often not formally. Favelas are constructed from a variety of materials, ranging from bricks to garbage. Many favelas are very close and very cramped. They are plagued by sewage, crime and hygiene problems. Although many of the most infamous are located in Rio de Janeiro, there are favelas in almost every large Brazilian town. In Rio one in every four Cariocas (as the inhabitants are called) lives in a slum.^[1] The city of Rio de Janeiro itself does not legally recognize the existence of favelas. The name originates from a species of plant with thorny leaves that grows in the semi-arid North-East region. Refugees and former soldiers involved in the Canudos Civil War (1895-1896) in Bahia would eventually settle on unreclaimed public land on a hill in Rio de Janeiro called Morro da Providência, because the government failed to provide any housing for them. The former soldiers named their new settlement Morro da Favela after the plant which had thrived at the site of a famous victory against the rebels.^[2]

Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in, contributing to its current state of poverty by replacing refugees as the major ethnic group. However, long before the first settlement called "favela" came into being, poor blacks were pushed away from downtown into the far suburbs. Favelas were handy for them because they allowed them to be close to work, while keeping away from where they were not welcome.

A favela is fundamentally different from a slum or tenement, primarily in terms of its origin and location. While slum quarters in other Latin American countries generally form when poorer residents from the countryside come to larger cities in search of work, favelas are unique in that they were created as large populations became displaced. Favelas differ from ghettos such as those in the United States in that they are racially mixed even though blacks make up the majority of the population. Although they were first mostly made up of most Afro-Brazilians they slowly began to consist of many European immigrants arriving in the 19th century.^[3] Another important distinction is that, in a typical favela, there is an anomalous form of social life that diverges from mainstream culture. Such a state of things was recognized as early as 1940.^{[citation needed]}

Shanty towns are units of irregular self-constructed housing that are unlicensed and occupied illegally. They are usually on lands belonging to third parties, and are most often located on the urban periphery. Shanty town residences are built randomly, although ad hoc networks of stairways, sidewalks, and simple tracks allow passage through them. Most favelas are inaccessible by vehicle.

These areas of irregular and poor-quality housing are often crowded onto hillsides, and as a result, these areas suffer from frequent landslides during heavy rain. In recent decades, favelas have been troubled by drug-related crime and gang warfare. There are rumors that common social codes in favelas forbid residents from engaging in criminal activity inside their own favela. Favelas are often considered a disgrace and an eyesore for local people within Brazil.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

Precarious houses in the favela of Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally agreed upon that the first favela was created in November 1897 when 20,000 veteran soldiers were brought to Rio de Janeiro and left with no place to live.^[4] Some of the older favelas were originally started as quilombos (independent towns for refugee African slaves) among the hilly terrain of the area surrounding Rio, which later grew as slaves were liberated in 1888 with no place to live.The favelas were formed prior to the dense occupation of cities and the domination of real estate interests.^[5] The housing crisis of the 1940s forced the urban poor to erect hundreds of shantytowns in the suburbs, when favelas replaced tenements as the main type of residence for destitute Cariocas (residents of Rio). The explosive era of favela growth dates from 1940, when Getulio Vargas’s industrialization drive pulled hundreds of thousands of migrants into the Federal District, until 1970, when shantytowns expanded beyond urban Rio and into the metropolitan periphery.^[6] Most of the current favelas began in the 1970s, as a construction boom in the richer neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro initiated a rural exodus of workers from poorer states in Brazil. Heavy flooding in the low-lying slum areas of Rio also forcibly removed a large population into favelas, which are mostly located on Rio's various hillsides. Since favelas have been created under different terms but with similar end results, the term favela has become generally interchangeable with any impoverished areas.^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Public Policy towards Favelas

The explosive growth of favelas triggered government removal campaigns. A program in the 1940s called Parque Proletario destroyed the original homes of favelados in Rio and relocated them to temporary housing as they waited for the building of public housing.^[7] Eventually little public housing was built and the land that was cleared for it just become reoccupied with new settlements of favelados. In 1955 Don Helder Camara, the Bishop of Recife and Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, launched the Cruzada São Sebastião, a federally financed project to build an apartment complex in the largest favela at the time, Praia do Pinto. The goal of the Cruzada was to transform favela dwellers into more acceptable citizens by only housing those willing to give up the vices associated with favela life. Only two such projects ever became fully functional, one in Praia do Pinto and the other in the favela of Radio Nacional in Parada de Lucas^[8] Removal programs of the favelas flourished once again in the 1970s under the military dictatorship disguised as a government housing program for the poor. What really happened was that more favelas were eliminated and its residents were displaced to urban territory lacking basic infrastructure.^[9] the idea was to eliminate the physical existence of favelas by taking advantage of the cheaper prices of suburban land. The favela eradication program became paralyzed eventually because of the resistance of those who were supposed to benefit from the program and a distribution of income did not permit the poor to assume the economic burden of public housing that was placed on them.^[10]

[edit] Formation of Favela Society

The people who live in favelas are known as favelados. As previously stated, the original favelados were of African descent, and Black Brazilians still make up the majority. However, with the influx of service and manufacturing jobs during the late 19th century in the core of Brazil's major cities, European immigrants and poor white Brazilians settled in the Favelas as well. This new influx of people diversified the face of the favelado. This altered image of the favelado broadened the inequalities and discrimination associated with the favelas from simply racial inequality and discrimination to economic.^[11]
Favelas are associated with immense poverty. Brazil's favelas can be seen as the result of the unequal distribution of wealth in the country. Brazil is one of the most economically unequal countries in the world with the top 10 percent of its population earning 50 percent of the national income and about 34 percent of all people living below the poverty line. The Brazilian government has made several attempts in the 20th century to improve the nation's problem of urban poverty. One way was by the eradication of the Favelas and favelados that occurred during the 1970s while Brazil was under military governance. These favela eradication programs forcibly removed over 100,000 residents and placed them in public housing projects or back to the rural areas that many emigrated from.^[12] Another attempt to deal with urban poverty came by way of gentrification. The government sought to upgrade the favelas and integrate them into the inner city with the newly urbanized upper-middle class. As these upgraded favelas became more stable, they began to attract members of the lower-middle class pushing the former favelados onto the streets or outside of the urban center and into the suburbs further away from opportunity and economic advancement. For example: in Rio de Janeiro, the vast majority of the homeless population is black, and part of that can be attributed to favela gentrification and displacement of those in extreme poverty.^[13]

[edit] Drugs and the Favela

Cops acting in the favela

The Colombian cocaine trade has impacted Brazil and in turn its favelas, which tend to be ruled by druglords. Regular shoot-outs between traffickers and police and other criminals, as well as assorted illegal activities, lead to murder rates in excess of 40 per 100,000 inhabitants in the city of Rio and much higher rates in some Rio favelas.^[14] Traffickers ensure that individual residents believe they can guarantee their own safety through their actions and political connections to them. They do this by maintaining order in the favela and giving and receiving reciprocity and respect, thus creating an environment in which critical segments of the local population feel safe despite continuing high levels of violence.

[edit] Growth of the Favelas

Despite the attempts to cleanse Brazil's major cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo of favelas, the poor population is continuing to grow at a rapid pace as well as the modern favelas that house them. In 1969, there were approximately 300 favelas in Rio de Janeiro, today there are twice as many. In fact, the population of the favelas is growing faster than the population of Brazil as a whole. In 1950, only 7 percent of Rio de Janeiro's population lived in favelas, in the 21st century it has grown to 19 percent or about one in five people living in a favela. According to national census data, from 1980-1990, the overall growth rate of Rio de Janeiro dropped by 8 percent, but the favela population increased by 41 percent. After 1990, the city's growth rate leveled at 7 percent, but the favela population increased by 24 percent. By the year 2000, this created an all-time high of people living in concentrated poverty.
Current increases in the population of favelas can not be credited to the original reasons of rural to urban migration or foreign immigration. These increases can more accurately be linked to the increased downward economic and social mobility of the people. The middle classes are getting poorer and unable to find affordable housing close to work, and the lowest classes are being voluntarily or involuntarily pushed out of the formal favelas of the inner city and into irregular favelas of the periphery because of gentrification. It is difficult to increase one's social and economic status in Brazil's major cities because of the decrease in job opportunities for uneducated and unskilled workers and the decrease in manufacturing jobs for blue-collar workers. There are currently higher educational standards for job entry, but it is extremely complicated for the urban poor to gain higher education. The public education system is not a reliable source for college preparation. Although college education is free, high entrance exam scores are necessary and a large majority of young favela inhabitants do not have access to the academically competitive private schools and expensive preparatory courses to prepare them for the test.^[15]

[edit] The Future of the Favelas

Since Brazil returned to democratic rule in the late 1980s a new attitude toward the favelas began to evolve. Urban planners today work with sociologists and activists on project Favela Bairro ("slum neighborhood"), which began ten years ago. Rather than flattening slum settlements and forcing the inhabitants into public housing projects, under Favela Bairro the city is trying to improve living standards by upgrading the basic infrastructure, as well as providing basic social services. Slum dwellers are no longer treated as outcasts, and not all are gangsters or involved in the drug industry. The project's goal is to turn them into proud citizens of a safe and stable community.

As of 2005 under project Favela Bairro, $600 million has been committed to building parks and streets and establishing public works in 120 of the over 400 slums throughout Rio. Services previously difficult if not impossible to obtain--such as running drinking water, electricity, garbage removal, day care centers, and counseling for domestic violence, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and drug and alcohol addiction--will be made accessible to the poor. Prices have risen almost 30 percent in the neighborhoods of some slums, particularly those with stunning views of the city. Businesses are mushrooming, some doubling since the project began^[16]

[edit] Extant favelas

The best-known favelas are those in and around Rio de Janeiro. They provide a dramatic illustration of the gap between poverty and wealth, positioned side-by-side with the luxurious apartment buildings and mansions of Rio's social elite. Several hills in Rio are densely populated by favelas. In 2004, it was estimated that 19% of Rio's population lived within favelas. Rocinha, Pavãozinho, Parada de Lucas, Maré and Turano are some of the most famous of Rio's favelas.

Cidade de Deus, made famous in the film (2002) of the same name is often mistakenly called a favela. However, it is a government-sponsored housing community designed to replace a favela, which subsequently ran down and took on some of the social qualities of favelas. Two condominiums in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro (very near Rocinha) are often sarcastically called favelas by locals. However, they are true condominiums, master-planned on deeded land with city utilities, owned individually by unit and managed by associations of their occupants. One, at the front gates of PUC-Rio, was actually built by the government. The other one, south of the horse track and soccer stadium, was donated to individual favela inhabitants by a wealthy benefactor.

[edit] Depiction in popular culture

A 1963 documentary, fish need to learn how to swim, marked the film debut of Gordon Parks.

The 2002 film City of God placed a spotlight on favelas, chronicling the cycle of poverty, violence, and despair in a Rio de Janeiro slum (although arguably Cidade de Deus does not meet the strict definition of a favela). The documentary Bus 174, also released in 2002, placed a focus on the poor conditions of favelas and their instigation of social stigmatization and street crime.

The 2005 documentary, Favela Rising, directed by Jeff Zimbalist, has won several awards for its daring look at life in Brazil's slums. The film focuses on the work of Anderson Sá, a former drug trafficker who establishes the music group Afro Reggae. This group aims at using music and education to better the lives of youth and prevent further growth of gangs.

The 2007 film Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) shows the Brazilian elite force BOPE fighting against the druglord of the favela Babilônia, in 1997. The favela must be "cleaned" because Pope John Paul II would stay at the nearby Rio Archbishop's Residence during his visit to Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian television series City of Men takes place in a favela.

The skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a skate course in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro.

One of the levels in the PC game Counter Strike (but not included with the original game, only downloaded apart) takes place in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

The 2000 film BMW Vermelho gives an interesting insight into the economic and cultural aspects of living in a Favela from a comedic perspective when a Favela resident wins a BMW that he can neither use nor sell. http://posters.imdb.com/title/tt0275950/

In the game SOCOM II one of the areas of operation is in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

Panoramic view of the Favela Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro.

[edit] See also

• Ghetto
• Cortiço
• Villa Miseria
• Pueblos jóvenes
• Colonia (border settlement)
• Barrio
• Kibera

• Abahlali baseMjondolo
• Township (South Africa)

Favelas

• List of favelas in Brazil*
• Heliópolis
• Rocinha

[edit] External links

• Life in Rio's Favelas, A photo essay from the Washington Post.
• Two Brothers Foundation/Fundação Dois Irmãos, a nonprofit organization based in the United States and Brazil whose mission is to provide educational opportunities in the favela of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through local and international community service and cultural exchange.
• Radio Favela, a community radio broadcasting from inside a favela located in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais)

[edit] References