Studies in Brazil Resulted in Janice Perlman's Book, The Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio de Janeiro

The populist governments, seen in the 1950’s and 1960’s in South America, spurred industrial growth and a sense of “consciousness” amongst the inhabitants of the Latin American countries. The industrial growth greatly benefited the middle-class and the working-class; however, the poor were driven into shantytowns and rural areas. To illustrate the great poverty of this time in Latin America, people living in “shantytowns” resided in vast settlements built of cardboard and other available materials such as metal and sheets of plastic. These “towns” frequently lacked proper sanitation. One could imagine how living in these shantytowns would degrade the human spirit and foster a sense of worthlessness. The abrupt shift in the social classes

This anthropological study conducted by Nancy Scheper-Hughes depicts the difficult lives of women and their newborns in Alto Do Cruzeiro; a small shantytown in Bom Jesus, Brazil. The problem outlined by the author is the high mortality rate of newborns and their affect on the mothers and the entire social construct. The author indicates a few factors and underlying influences that contribute to this problem, such as: poverty, access to clean drinking water, church, medical, government and economic exploitation. As a result, mothers have developed no sense of feeling when the death of their child has occurred. The mortality rate is so high, roughly one million children in Brazil under the age of five die every year, and many women barely

In conclusion, reading about Carolina’s life has had a huge impact on my learnings of Brazil. While reading this book, I was able to reflect on what we learned and discussed about life in the favelas in class. When I hear of Brazil, I always hear of the wealthy places, pretty women and beautiful sites to visit. However, the favelas and life of the poor people living in Brazil is rarely mentioned and talked about. Reading Carolina’s diary gave me a different image of the country and showed Brazil in another light. Carolina’s diary gave me more insight on what the daily life of a favelado is like and what people who live in the favelas experience on a daily

Poverty is like an empty room; they both lack something in it. Brazil's favelas are ridden with poverty, disease, and murder. Gordon Parks was the first black male photographer for both Life Magazine and Vogue who knew what it was like growing up poor. As Parks grew older he wrote an autobiography titled Voices in the Mirror, first published in 1990, in it, he reminisces about when he first met Flavio. Parks writes “Flavio’s Home” by capturing the struggles of an impoverished family in the favelas of Brazil. In this article, Parks goes to Brazil to witness the da Silvas family struggles in Rio De Janeiro; he also shines a light on the topic of poverty and why it’s a subject that should be more known in the world. When “Flavio’s Home” was published it was meant to inform the inconsiderate rich, knowing this is happening in the world. Although “Flavio’s Home” is outstanding the reader is left to wonder what he can do to help the cause.

Paint a picture of poverty. What do you see and where does it take place? Is it in a city like New York? Maybe it is at the dried out lands in the continent of Africa. Now, imagine it a hundred times worse, with no proper housing, limited water and sewage system, and also lacking food and other general necessities. You would get a picture of Catacumba, a favela in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. Also, this is where Gordon Parks met a particular boy, who would later become a symbol of poverty. In his memoir “Flavio’s Home”, Gordon Parks delineates a vivid picture of poverty through his faithful encounter of one of its denizen, Flavio, and his life in the favela.

Sao Paulo is Brazil’s financial center and is well-known for its breathtaking views, its abundant cultural institutions and for their rich architectural scene. However, there are many negative issues that are ravaging the lives of the citizens in this city. For starters, Sao Paulo has terribly congested traffic, a significant amount of crime and gang violence, a lack of quality in the medicine-health field, a high amount of air pollution, and also water shortages. However, these are not the biggest of their obstacles. Sao Paulo’s most pressing issue of the moment is the informal housing that is plaguing the city. This essay will first analyze Sao Paulo, Brazil’s informal housing issue, then will compare Sao Paulo’s unique obstacle to similar

Afro Brazilians have had to deal with centuries of oppression. During these times, Afro-Brazilians have had to deal with various methods, and strategies designed to keep entire communities oppressed. Many of these methods have had effects so profound, they are still affecting many Brazilians till this day. Political oppression is one of the oldest methods known to man, along with unleashing a forceful police force mimicking military forces. Authoritarian rule also played a major role in the shaping of the country. Furthermore, an inept biased justice system will fail those who need protections, and justice the most. These four key modes will be objectively examined, as well as the efficacy of each of these repressive strategies, and the impact that they have had or still have in the Afro-Brazilian communities.

Former slaves discovered a deep feeling of insecurity after the downfall of the monarchy. Since Brazil had always been a paternalistic culture (an Emperor and an autocrat of a patriarchal house to protect them), it even led to some men and women becoming nostalgic of their former ‘big houses’, as they were known, and were desperate for the patriarchal assistance they once had in abundance. Yet, the popular president Getulio Vargas finally understood the sociological and psychological situation of the former slaves and gave a large part of the Brazilian labour population protection against exploitation from commercial

A person would not consider donating a single dollar into the gratuity jar, were it not for the image of the low-spirited, beggarly child or the caged animal taped adjacent to the suggestive note. It is not stigmatizing to make a young boy the face of a failing economy and a disjointed society, for this is a psychologically ingenious tactic used to bring out the philanthropic side of a viewer. In “Flavio’s Home”, an essay published in his 1990 autobiography, Voices in the Mirror, Gordon Parks, a lauded American photojournalist, reflects on a presumably meaningful work-related venture into the life of a pubescent boy and his family in a shanty ghetto in Rio de Janeiro. Flavio da Silva was selected as the headline of an article detailing the numerous inconveniences of poverty, which encouraged Life readers to reach into their pockets and finance Flavio’s departure from his hovel in the Catacumba favela in Brazil. When natural disasters surface and leave communities of newly poverty-stricken and refuge-seeking citizens depressed in more developed countries, humankind is called into action; but many people are subjected to the harsh and unstable living conditions of third-world countries every day. Often times, they are overlooked.

The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that

Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil by Christen A. Smith juxtaposes the images of Brazil’s black populations shown in the media with the ugly reality that they actually face in their everyday lives. From an outside perspective Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro, is known as this tropical paradise with their beautiful beaches, beautiful people, and of course Carnaval do Brasil. When you Google images of the Carnaval you will see images of colorful floats, and beautiful women with “perfect bodies” wearing outfits that look like solely mardi gras beads to cover their its and bits. “Brazil, a republic that once declared itself free of racism, is now faced with the reality that racism does exist” (5). Brazil is known as a country with such a diverse and rich culture that everyone from other races live together in harmony. The representation of black bodies within Brazil can be seen with by the performers dancing on floats and with bodies being shot on the cement. Afro-paradise is a paradox. The oppressive economy uses its identity as an exotic, black “jovial playland” for tourists to come and experience the black culture and black people. Glorifying the black culture of Bahia reinforces Brazil’s racially

The extreme economic differences between people belonging to the upper and lower classes are ridiculously extravagant. One can see the living conditions between the rich and the poor are extremely unbalanced. This trend is evident in comparing two representative districts in Lima. On one hand is Villa El Salvador, a shantytown located in the southside of Lima where dirty, misery, and hunger are part of the natural landscape on the streets. On the other hand Miraflores, a high-end residential district in Lima where people of white descent live comfortably and the settings are dramatically more favorable than in Villa El Salvador. One can see luxury cars, big houses, and domestic servants of indigenous features in Miraflores and contrast

In the shantytowns of Brazil, there is a circulating rumor that causes mistrust towards the wealthy and technology. The poor fear that their children are going to being snatched so their organs can be harvested. Although the officials have tried to disprove the rumors, the gossip managed to spread globally. Nancy Scheper-Hughes has tried to make sense of these rumors, and has come to the conclusion that these rumors are a metaphor for how the poor feel mistreated by the wealthy.

The 2002 movie “City of God” is directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund and takes place in one of many favelas that make up the landscape of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Favelas are ghettos that were originally constructed by the city’s government in order to keep the lower class away from the city center. Over the years, the favelas have become a boiling melting pot of rich and deeply rooted Brazilian culture, but also filled with hopeless despair, danger, and lawlessness, as a result from violent gangs and constant drug war with the police. Even though nowadays Brazil is part of BRIC (acronym that refers to the collective economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China), the movie shows just how far the country is, socially, from becoming

When i began writing fiction, i thought that, if i could move some histories from the northeast of Brazil - where i was born - to Brasilia, the atmosphere of that unlikely city would add some oddness to them, helping me to remove stereotypes and to defamiliarize reality. In 1985, Brazil had returned to a civilian government since there were not political prisoners, and democracy seemed a viable option for the country. Literacy needed to change given the new political climate.