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Violence, Citizenship, and Religion in a Rio De Janeiro Favela

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Enrique Desmond Arias
Enrique Desmond Arias*
Affiliation:
George Mason University
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Abstract

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Across Latin America armed groups have come to dominate large sectors of social political and economic activity in poor and working-class communities. While scholars have noted the importance of religion in offering individuals and communities protection from violence, there has been relatively little study of the place of religion in contemporary armed activity in the region. This paper looks at the role of religion in the governance practices of an armed group in one Rio de Janeiro favela. The article will show that religious activities in this context provide an important arena in which members of the armed group can discuss autonomous and collaborative strategies to address security issues in the city. Most critically, religious discourse provides space to move discussions of politics in this community away from issues of citizenship and rights and into a discussion of justice and the distribution of resources among poor communities.

Resumo

Resumo

Em muitas partes da América Latina grupos armados passaram a dominar grandes setores da atividade social, político e econômico em comunidades pobres e da classe trabalhadora. Embora estudiosos tenham notado a importância de religião em proteger indivíduos e comunidades contra a violência, tem havido relativamente pouco estudo do lugar da religião na atividade armada contemporânea na região. Este artigo analisa o papel da religião nas práticas de governança de um grupo armado numa favela na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. O artigo irá mostrar que as atividades religiosas neste contexto fornecem uma vantagem importante para os membros do grupo armado para discutir estratégias autônomas e colaborativas para lidar com as questões de segurança na cidade. Mais crítico, o discurso religioso fornece espaço para mudar discussões de política nesta comunidade de questões focadas em cidadania e direitos para uma discussão sobre justiça e a distribuição de recursos entre as comunidades pobres.

Type
Part 3: Zones of Crisis
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 49 , Issue S1: Special Issue: Lived Religion and Lived Citizenship in Latin America's Zones of Crisis , 2014 , pp. 149 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

The author gratefully acknowledges the support of the American Council of Learned Societies and the United States Fulbright Commission.

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