A Poverty of Rights: Citizenship and Inequality in Twentieth-Century Rio de Janeiro

by Brodwyn Fischer

A Poverty of Rights is an investigation of the knotty ties between citizenship and inequality during the years when the legal and institutional bases for modern Brazilian citizenship originated. Between 1930 and 1964, Brazilian law dramatically extended its range and power, and citizenship began to signify real political, economic, and civil rights for common people. And yet, even in Rio de Janeiro―Brazil's national capital until 1960―this process did not include everyone. Rio's poorest residents sought with hope, imagination, and will to claim myriad forms of citizenship as their own. Yet, blocked by bureaucratic obstacles or ignored by unrealistic laws, they found that their poverty remained one of rights as well as resources. At the end of a period most notable for citizenship's expansion, Rio's poor still found themselves akin to illegal immigrants in their own land, negotiating important components of their lives outside of the boundaries and protections of laws and rights, their vulnerability increasingly critical to important networks of profit and political power. In exploring this process, Brodwyn Fischer offers a critical re-interpretation not only of Brazil's Vargas regime, but also of Rio's twentieth-century urban history and of the broader significance of law, rights, and informality in the lives of the very poor.

Genres: History, Latin American History

488 pages, Hardcover

First published December 18, 2008

Reviews

[Garret Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 - I liked the central argument that what binds favela residents together is their struggle for rights. They make deals and curry favor with politicians for privileges, and the services, etc. that are owed to them become favors instead of basic guaranteed rights. It’s divided into 4 parts with a couple chapters each. They discuss the following: urban renewal movement that forced favelados out of central rio and into hills and suburb-type areas, the relationship between Vargas and the poor (maybe my favorite part, btw), the relationship between the poor and the criminal justice system, and land rights. Each of these parts illustrated their patronage system where they were offered protection that helped them merely survive, rather than actual basic human rights. Great book. Well-researched, very readable, highly recommend.