The survival of those who couldn’t “stay home”: Community-based resistance and precariousness around the “new normal” in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic deepened social inequalities in Brazil’s favelas. Among certain social groups, the need to keep moving to ensure survival meant greater exposure to the risks of the disease. While kinetic elites enjoyed the privilege of remaining immobile and protected, less privileged urban groups were forced to continue in movement despite the risks created by the pandemic. In this study we qualify social analyses around the so-called “new normal” based on ethnographic research conducted in urban peripheries. Empirically based on the cases of the favelas Santa Marta and Vila Vintém, we examine conditioning factors that differentiate the effects of the pandemic among favelas in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Our intent is to demonstrate the differential effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in territories where the city’s most impoverished population lacks the socioeconomic conditions to “stay home”. We indicate two general aspects: first, the pandemic deepened and re-signified pre-existing social problems; second, the shortage of public policies and complex requalifications of precariousness stimulated the development of various community-based actions to mitigate the risks of infection in these territories.