Abstract
In this article, I associate several moments of qualitative fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro’s slums to investigate the negotiation dynamics between the leaders of associations from these localities and the civil and military agents of the public authority, notably during the “Program of Pacification of the Slums”, initiated in 2008. I argue that the silencing and demotion of the critics of the residents are operated through their disqualification and, in this operation, criminalization is an important element. I conclude the article discussing how the act of silencing, disciplining and criminalizing compose the repertoire of poor people’s government in the urban peripheries and their effects on democracy.
Keywords:
Slums; Associativism; Criminalization; Segregation; Militarization