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Under Brazil's 1988 Constitution, quilombo communities have the right to the titles of the lands they occupy. This paper assesses quilombo titles' transformative potential through the experiences of Rio de Janeiro's urban quilombo Sacopã, an ethnic Afro-descendant community once perceived as a favela. Unlike its neighbours, the community managed to resist the widespread favela removals of the 1970s. Based on an ethnographic approach during fieldwork conducted between December 2013 and January 2014, the article asks: how did Sacopã manage to remain, whilst its surrounding favelas were forcefully removed? Who counts as ethnic? What does this imply for Brazil's afro-descendant majority? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the links between carceral spaces and favelas or communities of a low socio-economic status focusing on the involvement of people in illegal drug trade and its effects on communities. topics include rise of crime in favelas, impacts of rural to urban shift, and representation of social conditions in Latin America in films. Also discussed is the impacts of urbanization on the community.

The article discusses the changing perspectives of people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil focusing on the impacts of colonization in the country, shift into a tourist destination, and growth of cultural movements in the nation. Topics include political and economic marginality, representations of favelas and its cultural aspects, and rise of crime and violence in the city. The social representation in motion pictures is mentioned in films like "Tropa de elite" and "Cidade de Deus".

This article analyses the relationship between stigmatisation, violence and marginality, and its limits to social justice and citizenship. It involves a critical reflection on the way groups living in 'a social and symbolical shade' are represented and treated by governments and their institutions, and the way such practices reinforce a cycle of socio-symbolical marginality and the limits to life in the city. The article will explore the findings of a research within drug gangs in which I have been involved (Observatório de Favelas, 2006; Silva et al., 2009 and, Silva and Urani, 2002), and my own research on violence, urban marginality and stigmatisation (Fernandes, 2009, 2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participatory planning method called Plano Global Específico (PGE; Specific Global Plan) has been used in Belo Horizonte, Brazil since 1995 for interventions in favelas (spontaneous settlements). Although the responsible municipal agency describes it optimistically, inhabitants have manifested significant discontent. This article focuses on the reasons for this controversy, analysing the PGE method against the background of Brazilian re-democratisation and Belo Horizonte's public policies for favelas. The article argues that institutionalised participation does not favour the qualitative leap towards citizen control or autonomy, but is essentially attached to heteronomous planning structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on `favelas' which is the growth of shanty towns, being an important feature of many Brazilian cities since 1947, and their significance in Sao Paulo City during the mid-1970s. Information on Sao Paulo's favelas expansion and estimated population; Details on sudden changes in Sao Paulo.