Democracia e Ação Social na Cidade de Deus
When the pandemic hit Rio de Janeiro in March 2020, favela residents were the first to mobilize to help people in crisis. Many who were already part of community-based organizations used their expertise, infrastructure, and social networks to seek and provide help, while others organized informal collectives to raise funds and reach those most in need. The scarcity of government resources—something we have documented in other research—encouraged the creation of new networks of social action, systems of collaboration, and relationships with funders outside the community. In other words, the lack of national democracy encouraged the growth of local democracy.
In this research, our team sought to understand this process: who helped raise and distribute resources, how these collaborations were carried out, what was the participation of public and private institutions, and what these experiences were like for the people who received this assistance. With funding from the Social Science Research Council, we conducted the research between September 2021 and January 2022. During this time, we organized a discussion forum with representatives of these groups and conducted 34 interviews with leaders of social actions in the CDD, funders, public agents, and beneficiaries of local assistance.
Preliminary Findings
01.
Reconfiguration of Democracy
The withdrawal of the State from Cidade de Deus during the pandemic led to a strengthening of local democracy, strengthening the efforts of existing organizations and activating new groups, individuals, and networks. This increased the importance, visibility, and coordination capacity of both old and new groups. These efforts were led primarily by Black women, whose leadership in the local civic sphere elevated them to social and political roles as they determined how resources would be mobilized and distributed.
02.
The Inversion of State-Society Relations
The less the government did to help poor residents in crisis, the more civic associations led by these residents stepped in. Some public officials remained committed to helping Cidade de Deus through personal donations without financial support from the government. Ironically, we also documented many cases where civic associations provided materials to public agencies, including masks and wheelchairs for the health clinic and social welfare office.
03.
The Rise of the Private Sector
During the pandemic, not a single civic group received a government grant, but all relied on the private sector for donations of cash, food, and gift cards to fund their aid distribution efforts. The types of aid that donors funded changed during the pandemic: where they had previously funded cultural, social, and political projects, as well as paying staff salaries and the costs of electricity and other infrastructure, during the crisis they shifted that funding to basic food and health needs. The strengthened ties between the private sector and favela civic associations are reshaping democracy in Rio’s favelas, replacing the state with the private sector in neighborhood governance.