Responding to Poverty Ungovernance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case from a Brazilian Favela

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 21. Urban Governance II: Self-Governance and Community-Led Strategies

Abstract

Studies of poverty governance often focus on how the state oversees the management and control of poor populations. What happens, however, in spaces and times characterized by governmental neglect, or ungovernance? Residents of Rio de Janeiro’s ‘favelas,’ or poor informal neighborhoods, were forced to tackle this question during the COVID-19 pandemic, when both the municipal government and Jair Bolsonaro’s negationist federal government recoiled from addressing economic, health, or other crises among poor citizens. The study is based on a mixed-methods, participatory action research study conducted between 2020 and 2022 in Cidade de Deus, the first of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas to report a positive COVID-19 case. We found that residents took charge of local governance by locating and distributing essential resources, helping to create new social norms and practices, and strengthening local networks between organizations and collectives. In contrast to state governance, this governing model was dominated by Black, often female favela leaders, and relied heavily on support from the private sector. Ultimately, this study argues that ungovernance by the state is both destructive and constructive: while it reduces residents’ access to resources and services, it enables the poor to obtain greater local political power and autonomy to govern themselves, while also increasing the influence of the private sector in and over the community.

Authors

• Sophia Costa, University of Chicago

• Anjuli Fahlberg, Tufts University

• Cristiane Martins

• Ana Claudia Araujo

• Lidiane Santos

• Joiceane Lopes da Silva