Movimentos sociais

This study examines the use of video by social movement groups in post-dictatorship Brazil for engendering citizenship rights among shantytown dwellers. It is organized along the following lines: First, theoretical formulations on "democratic" and "popular" communication, the bodies of theory which set out to understand the ways in which participatory communication practices can contribute to community-based development and democratization goals, will be explored (Chapter Two).

Chapter Three provides an overview of the socio-political events leading up to the widespread use of video by social movement groups, community activists and popular educators. In addition, it examines grassroots media in the context of the Brazilian media ecology. The wide use of video by the vast array of social movement groups which dot Brazil's civil society map has necessarily brought about a wide range of practices and approaches to incorporating video into the movements' popular education and political organizing work. Chapter Four examines in greater detail what those functions and characteristic practices are.

The second half of the study moves away from the theoretical, historical and socio-political to look at grassroots video in practice. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this innovation in stimulating community participation and community-based development, an evaluative case study analysis of the "Video in the Favela" program is divided. The evaluative section of the study includes the following: discussion of methodological choice, design and implementation (Chapter Five); an evaluation report of the "Video in the Favela" program (Chapter Six); and recommendations and conclusions (Chapter Seven). This second half of the study draws on the methods of the qualitative paradigm in educational evaluation (extensive observation, informal interviewing, analysis of program documents, etc.) and draws on data gathered in Brazil between 1990 and 1992.

After fifteen years of democratization, residents of Rio's favelas (shantytowns) suffer high levels of civil and human rights abuse at the hands of both police and drug traffickers. The government is generally not able to guarantee the political order to protect the rights of residents of these communities. Existing theories of democratization and advocacy networks offer little to explain how the types of endemic violence that affect poor neighborhoods in the developing world can be brought under control. Based on over two years of participant observation and interviews in Rio de Janeiro, this project examines how democratic order can be extended to favelas and human rights more effectively guaranteed in similar communities in other cities and countries. I argue that Local Associative Networks [LANs] are able to link community residents to organizations in civil society and state actors play a critical role in reducing violence and establishing democratic order. Favelas that possess a diverse set of social organizations have an easier time interacting with the state and civil society than communities that lack such institutions. The links between the community and the outside are fundamental in helping residents bring in needed resources, controlling abuses on the part of state officials who work in the community, and establishing order. This project details the types of micro-level institutions necessary to consolidate democracy and guarantee human rights on the local level. Further, this project looks at the structure of domestic political networks and the role they play in the governance of post-authoritarian societies.

Our aim was to describe the mechanisms that drive this difference in success among groups of urban squatters in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The purpose is to find how space for democracy may be created at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid in the context of great social, political, and economic inequality. Exposing the avenues and methods of successful demand making of the poorest of Rio’s citizens contributes to a deeper understanding of how democracy develops, deepens, and functions—particularly under unfavorable conditions. Moreover, understanding how and why the poor choose to access or avoid the government when they do is an important first step in trying to build a relationship between the state and the slums. Developing this relationship is imperative in order to turn the current unsustainable drain of uncontrolled urbanization by poor migrants who choose to avoid the state’s purview, into a positive contribution to state and society. How to bring in those with an exit option to participate in the state is the real challenge of the slums.

A new model of social and political movements is presented here that captures a heretofore unobservable phenomenon: that of binding, or temporary, cooperative relationships between individuals in a community that form groups; between these temporary groups and influential institutions outside of the community; and de facto, asynchronous cooperation between the institutions on behalf of the community. The presence of these Binding Action Networks is empirically tested, as well as the results for communities where the Binding Action Networks are relatively stronger or weaker. In the final analysis, this dissertation develops a new view of social movements among the worst off in society, and consequently captures an element of democracy and democratization that has been overlooked until now. In the final analysis, social capital, both within the community and bridging outside of the community plays an instrumental role in the political voice and the material well being of those pushed to the political and economic margins of society.

Esta tese tem por objetivo tratar a democracia e cidade em um contexto específico: a experiência da democracia na cidade de Porto Alegre através das várias disputas e dinâmicas de deslocamento do poder entre governo e sociedade civil nas instâncias de participação local Orçamento Participativo (OP) e Conselho Municipal de Desenvolvimento Urbano Ambiental (CMDUA). A análise aqui desenvolvida compreende que o processo de produção do espaço urbano reúne um conjunto de ações e disputas sociais, mas também se materializa no território. Para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, foi necessário discutir a democracia à luz de fundamentos históricos; através da abordagem crítica, sobretudo em relação ao consenso; e levar em consideração a democracia radical. Contextualizou-se a política urbana brasileira em relação ao processo democrático do país e sua repercussão na cidade de Porto Alegre. A análise local partiu de uma visão processual articulada com análises de eventos, e foi apresentada na forma de narrativa histórica organizada através dos projetos políticos sucessivos: Administração Popular, Governança Solidária Local e Gestão Nelson Marchezan Júnior. Desta forma, identificou-se a maleabilidade dos processos democráticos caracterizados como democratização e desdemocratização e como estes oscilaram ao longo do tempo através de respostas dos governos aos distintos setores da sociedade civil. No OP analisou-se o histórico e as demandas realizadas no período entre 1989 e 2016 e no CMDUA o histórico e inserção da participação popular e respectivos processos e projetos. O caminho metodológico ocorreu através da etnografia política, análise de discurso, de mapas e dados quantitativos. Os resultados da pesquisa mostram as transformações na cidade e na democracia: Porto Alegre aprofundou a democracia (democratização) a partir da Administração Popular com o protagonismo dos movimentos populares. Compartilhou o poder em torno das decisões sobre orçamento, o que promoveu melhorias nas condições de vida da população pobre. No período da Governança Solidária Local, identificou-se situações em que a participação popular foi subjugada. As prioridades retornaram para grandes obras públicas urbanas, o que provocou desigualdades socioespaciais a partir da valorização de regiões específicas da cidade. No período do governo Nelson Marchezan Júnior há a tentativa de suprimir toda participação popular através de mudanças nas leis que regulamentam a participação popular em Porto Alegre (desdemocratização). Por sua vez, o CMDUA ampliou a base de participação popular e expandiu para a sociedade civil através dos Fóruns Regionais de Planejamento, porém, não superou a tradição de trabalhar para grandes projetos urbanos e para elite imobiliária.