“…Among its misconceptions was the assumption that poverty and inequality stemmed from a particular culture, disregarding the influence of public policies and the historical and economic processes that result in social exclusion (Zaluar, 2000). Embedded in this theory were the ideas that poor people were themselves the impediment to their own progress and that favelas self-perpetuated abject poverty, vice, and disintegration (Fischer, 2014;Silva, 1983). As they gained traction amongst academics, these ideas permeated both the social sciences and housing policies associated with slum clearances, as well as the approaches taken by international agencies as they spread the ideal of developmentalism (Benmergui, 2009;Fischer, 2014;Netto, 1998).…”