Synopses & Reviews
Beginning in the late 1970s, activists from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro challenged the conditionsandmdash;such as limited access to security, sanitation, public education, and formal employmentandmdash;that separated favela residents from Rioand#39;s other citizens. The activists built a movement that helped to push the nation toward redemocratization. They joined with political allies in an effort to institute an ambitious slate of municipal reforms. Those measures ultimately fell short of aspirations, and soon the reformers were struggling to hold together a fraying coalition. Rio was bankrupted by natural disasters and hyperinflation and ravaged by drug wars. Well-armed drug traffickers had become the new lords of the favelas, protecting their turf through violence and patronage. By the early 1990s, the promise of the favela residentsand#39; mobilization of the late 1970s and early 1980s seemed out of reach. Yet the aspirations that fueled that mobilization have endured, and its legacy continues to shape favela politics in Rio de Janeiro.
Review
andquot;Hard Times in the Marvelous City will be essential reading for anyone interested in Brazil's redemocratization, grassroots political mobilization and the challenges of governance, and the policing and violence that have intersected in the recent history of Rio de Janeiro's favelas and their city.andquot;andmdash;Jerry Dandaacute;vila, author of Hotel Trandoacute;pico: Brazil and the Challenge of African Decolonization, 1950andndash;1980
Review
andquot;Bryan McCann has given us a compelling political history of Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s through the lens of Rio de Janeiro. His research is so meticulous and his writing so fluid that you feel as though you are living through the unfolding drama of politics, personalities, social forces, and serendipity. We see the way these forces re-create and perpetuate the deep divide between favelas and the rest of the city, despite peopleand#39;s movements and struggles for social justice.andquot;
Review
andquot;McCannandrsquo;s argument for optimism in the contemporary moment relies on a historical comparison: the political conditions for favela integration are much better now than they were in the period of Brazilandrsquo;s transition to democracy, as the political and economic environment is more stable. Displaying his faith in building the city from below, he declares that community organizers and mobilizers and#39;have seized a new opportunity to build a Rio de Janeiro that lives up to its democratic promise and to its nickname: the Marvelous City.and#39;andquot;
Review
andldquo;This specialized work is well done and has broad implications for Brazilian political development. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;One of McCannandrsquo;s clear strengths lies in his consistent attention to, as previously noted, multiple actors and their interactionsandhellip;. McCannandrsquo;s intimate knowledge of specific favelas and their inhabitants blends well with his accounts of higher-level political events. These two volumes are substantial, provocative, and useful additions to the literature.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[T]he book is a must read for students and scholars who wish to gain an insightful historical description of Rioandrsquo;s favelas and their place in the city as well as a contextualization of current issues regarding these relations.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[A] detailed and engaging account about the battle for rights of tenure, title and esteem.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;McCannandrsquo;s analysis is insightful, and his research brings exciting new perspectives to contemporary Rio de Janeiroandrsquo;s urban history and, more generally, the history of Brazil, Latin America, the Global South, and urbanity.andquot;
Review
andquot;McCann should be congratulated for providing readers with a neatly constructed account of popular politics and sociopolitical change in one of the worldand#39;s great cities.andquot;
Review
andldquo;By offering readers a comprehensive overview of this period, McCannandrsquo;s book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Rio de Janeiro today and the dilemmas that the Marvelous City still faces after all these years.andrdquo;
Synopsis
This history explains how and why the favelas of Rio de Janeiro were able to resist demolition in the 1970s but succumbed to the drug wars of the 1980s and 1990s.
About the Author
Bryan McCann is Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University. He is the author of Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil, also published by Duke University Press, and Throes of Democracy: Brazil since 1989.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Big Picture 19
2. Mobilization 43
3. Reform 77
4. The Breaking Point 121
5. The Unraveling 159
Epilogue 181
Notes 199
Bibliography 227
Index 243