The Violence of Structural Violence: Ethical Commitments and an Exceptional Day in a Brazilian "Favela"

The concept of ‘structural violence’ dates back at least to the 1960s when it was first used by Latin American liberation theologians to refer to ‘sinful social structures characterized by poverty’ (Farmer, 2004, p. 307). A strong connection between ‘spaces of poverty’ and ‘structural violence’ is often taken for granted in most discussions around the latter concept. This article critically examines the constitution of Brazilian favelas as spaces belonging to a broader structure of urban violence. I concern myself with questions such as: what approach to the question of violence can do greater justice to the experiences and aspirations of people with whom I shared my life in one of the largest shantytowns of Latin America? The discussion explores violence as a multifaceted phenomenon in the city of Rio de Janeiro and raises questions regarding the specific type of violence that is generated by urban scholars themselves through their constitution of certain urban spaces as belonging to assumed structures of violence. People living in favelas themselves do not always appreciate or agree with the classificatory structures deployed by scholars. What is the least violent position that one can take when it comes to the study of favelas and urban violence? Based on ethnographic experiences, I come to the proposal that more desirable studies of violence should give priority to the daily experiences of people argued to be the victims in our narratives.