Surviving and dying through the urban frontier: Everyday life, social brokerage and living with militias in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone

Abstract

Urban margins are typically depicted as residual, apolitical spaces, where delinquent activities take place. But these spaces, with their own social, economic and political goings-on, are capable of drawing established urban economic and political structures into question. This paper brings together urban frontiers, political settlements and brokerage literatures to analyse how residents muddle through the challenges of everyday life in the urban margins and interact with coercive systems of rule. Through ethnographic fieldwork, this paper focuses on two brokers from neighbouring communities in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone; exploring how they mediate violent conditions, coercive militia rule and limited resources, and why and how they do so to different effects. By focusing on the spatial and historical dimensions of brokerage, this paper argues that power in Rio de Janeiro’s margins derives not only from coercive control and domination, but also from agency, legitimacy and social energy. By doing so, this paper unearths potential for more radical possibilities for urban development.

As múltiplas faces da milícia Liga da Justiça: Reorientação moral e deslocamento político na Zona Oeste do Rio de Janeiro

“…Para ele, os objetivos iniciais desse grupo eram "legítimos", mesmo que representassem um tipo de controle territorial fora dos marcos normativos da lei. Reprimir e expulsar o tráfico de drogas, embora de forma ilegal, era considerado "legítimo" para os moradores daquela localidade, uma vez que o medo da força do tráfico era maior que o medo da força da milícia (POPE, 2023;SILVA, 2017). Desse modo, o problema do grupo, para o depoente, foi que, para fazer a manutenção dessa autoridade, era necessário uma "estrutura empresarial" e algum meio de recurso financeiro.…”

Placing the peripheries within Brazil’s rightward turn: Socio-spatial transformation and electoral realignment, 2002–2018

“…The case of Campo Grande in Rio’s West Zone offers an interesting contrast to Sapopemba. Lying some 50 km from the city centre, Campo Grande might be understood as a “frontier periphery” (Pope, 2019; Gomes, 2020). It has a rapidly growing population and a vibrant commercial economy, both formal and informal, but precarious public services and weak transport links connecting the area to the rest of the city.…”

“…12 However, this masks the particular socio-economic challenges and inequalities found in this part of the city. A long-term decline in public sector jobs in Rio de Janeiro, which intensified in the 1980s, led to an increase in precarious and self-employment in Campo Grande (Pope, 2019; Gomes, 2020). In 2010, while the rate of formal employment in Campo Grande was similar to Sapopemba’s (68%), the self-employment rate was notably higher, at 20%.…”

Writing the Latin American city: Trajectories of urban scholarship

“…Inhabiting urban margins requires everyday interaction with coercive systems of rule. This experience is illustrated by Pope (2023) who explains the experiences of negotiating urban spaces with militias in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone through the lenses of political settlements and brokerage. Similarly, Abello-Colak and Guarneros-Meza (2014) call for including armed actors in our understanding of urban governance.…”