Beginning in the 1930’s, Brazil began to develop itself as an industrialized nation, building factories, inviting foreign investment, and moving away from traditional agriculture. As a result, many displaced agricultural families and impoverished workers moved to cities, settling in huge shantytowns known as favelas. By examining the causes of Brazil’s urban migration, as well as the development of and lifestyle within favelas, one can attain a better understanding of the overall picture of Brazilian internal migration.
There are many factors that led to and sustained the migration of Brazilians from a rural to an urban setting. The major factor that originally kicked off Brazilian “rural exodus” was increased industrialization within the country
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Favelas originated in the late 19th century, when soldiers returning from the Canudos campaign and impoverished former slaves had nowhere to live-- so they began to live as squatters in the hills near Rio de Janeiro (Wallenfeldt). Although favelas have existed for over a century, they did not begin developing into the large slums until the mid 1930s, in parallel with the beginnings of widespread industrialization in Brazil. Under the governance of Vargas and the military government that emerged after the 1964 coup, populations of favelas exploded; “from 1950 to 1980, the amount of people living in favelas in Rio de Janeiro alone increased from 170,000 to more than 600,000, and by the early 21st century it was estimated that there were as many as 1,000 favelas there,” Wallenfeldt writes. Favelas generally are constructed as migrants flow into the city, but are unable to find housing or work. Temporary housing is then constructed out of materials like cardboard, wood scraps, and daub, but as time goes on and the migrants become more permanant residents, more durable materials, like sheet metal, cinder blocks, or brick are used to improve the construction. Problems were still rampant in favelas, however; The Brazilian government was not willing to run electricity, sanitation, or other public services to favelas, despite their proximity to the city proper. As a result, water was often ported great distances, electricity and other services were dealt with by improvisation (or “jerry rigging”), and the profliferation of overcrowding, poor nutrition, rudimentary methods of waste disposal and pollution meant that disease was rampant in favelas, and infant mortality rates were high
In Samba, Alma Guillermoprieto describes the Carnival celebrated every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and explores the black cultural roots from which it takes its traditions as well as its social, economic, and political context in the 1980s. From her firsthand experience and investigation into favela life and the role of samba schools, specifically of Manguiera, Guillermoprieto illustrates a complex image of race relations in Brazil. The hegemonic character of samba culture in Brazil stands as a prevalent theme in numerous facets of favela life, samba schools, and racial interactions like the increasing involvement of white Brazilians in Carnival preparation and the popularity of mulatas with white Brazilians and tourists. Rio de Janeiro’s early development as a city was largely segregated after the practice of slavery ended. The centralization of Afro-Brazilians in favelas in the hills of the city strengthened their ties to black
Globalisation has been crucial to the economic and social development of Brazil. In the late twentieth century Brazil face years of economic, political and social instability experiencing high inflation, high income inequality and rapidly growing poverty. However after a change of government in the 1990s and large structural changes in both the economic and social landscapes, the brazilian economy has been experiencing a growing middle class and reduced income gap. Since the start of the 21st century, brazil has benefitted from the move to a more global economy.
Larry Rohter was a journalist in Brazil for 14 years and from his experiences he offers in this book some unique insights into Brazilian history, politics, culture and more. In 10 topical chapters Rohter’s easy-to-read book provides a look at Brazilian history and the extraordinary changes the country has undergone -- and is still undergoing. Rother covers many significant issues, but several stand out more than others. Namely: the country’s history, culture, politics, and finally its economy/natural wealth.
Racial identity is a complicated thing to examine when looking at the social politics of Brazil. The film Brazil in Black and White and Benedita da Silva’s book both tackle the issues of racial identity in similar manners. Brazil has the second highest black population in the world, following only Nigeria, yet Afro-Brazilians are heavily unrepresented in Brazilian education, government, and media. Benedita da Silva, being an Afro-Brazilian congresswoman faced these issues on a personal level and her criticisms are integral in understanding the marginalization of blacks in Brazil.
In the favela of São Paulo, Brazil, 1958, Carolina Maria de Jesus rewrote the words of a famous poet, “In this era it is necessary to say: ‘Cry, child. Life is bitter,’” (de Jesus 27). Her sentiments reflected the cruel truth of the favelas, the location where the city’s impoverished inhabited small shacks. Because of housing developments, poor families were pushed to the outskirts of the city into shanty towns. Within the favelas, the infant mortality rate was high, there was no indoor plumbing or electricity, drug lords were governing forces, drug addiction was rampant, and people were starving to death. Child of the Dark, a diary written by Carolina Maria de Jesus from 1955 to 1960, provides a unique view from inside Brazil’s favelas, discussing the perceptions of good
In the story “Flavio’s Home” by Gordon Parks, he draws you into a world that is very descriptive and allows yourself to imagine what it would be like if you were standing there with him. Gordon was there with Life reporter Jose Gallo to find a father with a family to examine the poverty of that particular family in Rio de Janeiro. Instead they came across a boy named Flavio, they followed Flavio up the mountain to a leaning shack. Flavio was only twelve but had worked so hard from the time he could stand that his body had taken the toll. Gordon describes the favela of Catacumba, pale by comparison to New York’s Harlem and Chicago’s south side. In so doing this gives the readers in those populated city’s an idea of how much greater the poverty
The republic of Brazil was heavily influenced by positivism, which demanded order and progress. The liberal elite focused so heavily on progress that the underlying social problems of Brazil were ignored. The rural majority was marginalized and faced unemployment, drought, and a reforming state. The choice to defy the state and live in the community of Canudos was made because it offered a lifestyle that was out of reach elsewhere in the backlands. While Canudos was inspired by religion, it had several principal attractions that were socially based. Foremost, Canudos offered a sense of safety and order in a deteriorating environment. The high number of ex slaves is an example of this. With the abolishment of slavery, there was an immediate increase in the mobility of that population. With its geographic isolation it provided a safe place for them to go, opportunity, and a place to hide in case slavery was reestablished.
The Realm of Desire and Dream: Brazil and its Self-Constructing Middle Class of the 1980s, 1990s and Today
In Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, the effects of the marginalization of socioeconomically underprivileged people are depicted through behavior and psychological tendencies. These effects on the marginalized youth portrayed in Burgess’ fictional work draw a parallel to modern-day Brazilian shantytowns, commonly known as favelas. The psychology of behavior and the conflict between the government and the people are two clear-cut examples that illustrate the parallels between both worlds regardless, of the time period they exist in. As the doctors attempt in A Clockwork Orange, what can the Brazilian government do to stop or at least diminish violence and drug abuse among the youth in favelas?
In the past years, Brazil has celebrated itself as a great economic performer with emerging markets and increasing influence on the international stage. However, in 2013, Brazil was paralyzed by huge demonstrations expressing deep discontent with their governments’ performance. In this paper, I look at the sudden onset of the protest and the absence of it in the previous years. I will argue that despite these protests, the government of Brazil maintains a hegemonic culture that propagates its own values and practices. Brazil experiences the process of modernization from the above, which does not quite reflect the demands of the lower class. Using Brazil as an example, I will expand on how the political leadership establishes and maintains its control.
“Because of the rapid growth experienced by this country in terms of urban development, industrialization and population at the beginning of the 21st century, Brazil is facing a number of social, environmental and political challenges” (Meyer 2010). Over the years, Brazils infrastructure has been a topic of concern as the quality and quantity of growth seem to be lacking. One might be familiar with the recent 2016 Olympics in Rio and how many complaints were made about the unfinished quarters where people were staying and how the under developed the city
The arrival of the World Cup and Olympics will serve as a catalyst for Brazil to gain the recognition it desires. As enjoyable and lucrative as those years of international exposure have the potential to be, they will ultimately be short lived and fleeting in long term impact, unless the Brazilian government uses the platform afforded to it to set up long term plans to establish the “Brazilian Brand” in foreign markets. No where is this opportunity more readily available to the Brazilian government and private sector than the African continent. Long standing associations between the population of Brazil and the western coast of Africa, through the slave trade and natural migration, form an organic connection between the two entities that isn’t found in any other region of the world. With a majority Afro-decendant population and the largest concentration of individuals of African decent outside of Nigeria, Brazil is uniquely situa...
In the current economic times the development and growth of any economy has come to a near stop or at least to a drastic slow down. The face of the global economic environment has changed and many new countries are starting to change the way their country and the rest of the world does business. One such nation is Brazil, who has turned around their own economic troubles and is becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the world (World Factbook). Brazil has started developing its economy and using the opportunity to achieve a level of respect in the world.
Brazil is a diverse and enormous country. There are large, medium and small sized aities that stretch from coast. From Brazilian cit...
Brazil and Mexico are both the giants of their geographic realms (de Blij and Muller 219,254). Mexico constitutes an entire geographic region of Middle America (200). The country of Brazil is also considered a single region in South America (239). Both of these regions have very large populations in comparison to the other regions of their realms. Mexico’s current population of 102 million people has more than doubled in size since 1970 (219). Brazil’s estimated population is currently near 167 million people (254). The populations of both regions are becoming increasingly more urban in character. At least seventy-four percent of Mexico’s population resides in cities or towns (220). Similarly in Brazil, eighty percent of the population lives in urban areas (Microsoft Encarta).