The Favela problem (I) – what is the root cause?
This is the first article of a series discussing the issue of Favelas.
Housing is one of the main problems that Brasil face today. The obvious signal of this trend is the proliferation of favelas across all major city centres. Problems and difficulties are the norm in these places where law and progress have yet to find its way. This small article is an attempt to shed some light on this topic that is usually treated with bemusement by foreigners (be it artists, politicians, writers, and general population) or apathy by Brasilians.
We suggest that you read this article or watch this video, produced by an Australian broadcaster for a broader perspective on the issue.
Favela Wars – Brazil
Documentary on Brazilian Favelas
June 2003
The violence spilling out of Brazil’s slums or ‘favelas’ has made the country’s two major cities more dangerous than most war zones. Children in Rio de Janeiro are eight times more likely to die violently than those in the West Bank. (…)
Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures
The situation hasn’t changed much since then. And more recently, conflicts between the state police and drug dealers have caused panic in Rio de Janeiro, when a police helicopter was shot down and conflict erupted between police and criminals. But rather than discuss occurrences that are common in favelas, we want to bring up the causes, issues and possible solutions for the problem.
After some research on the favelas, we have pinned down the major causes for the emergence and proliferation of favelas in Brasil. Although these are inter-connected, this helps understand the issue a bit better. As causes of the “favelização” or “favelization we can mention:
* Unequal economic growth – Brasil has grown at around 3.5% per year over the last 10 years. This rate is not only low, compared to countries such as China, but is also unevenly distributed across the different income classes. Brasil ranks high among the countries with the most unequal income distribution as measured by equality indexes such as the Gini coefficient. The problem can be attributed to several factors such as poor economic policy, historical inflation, corruption, but its most important result is the lack of opportunities for the poor to overcome its social limitations.
* Very High Birth Rates - the poor have more children than the rich on a ratio of 3.8 to 1. This issue can’t be blamed solely on the government and its impact on the family structure is very significant. As main causes to these high rates we can mention a poor sexual education from families, schools and religious intitutions, as well as the lack of effective birth control methods, which are translated into an ingrained sexual promiscuity (not an exclusivity of the poor, but certainly more harmful) that create bigger (and unstructured) families with all the consequences for children formation and development.
* Low quality public education - the State has failed to deliver quality education. Public schools are poorly equipped, teachers are badly paid and show little interest to teach, and students do not see the value of education that is SO obvious. With a low quality education, chances that a child raised in a favela will become a doctor, a lawyer or a successful entepreneur are minimal, and is likely to become movie stories. Added to this it must be mentioned the lack of parental guidance and interest in education, since most parents are functional lliterates. The results are catastrophic.
* Uncontrolled urbanisation – between 1970 ans 2000 the population living in cities has grown from 56% to 81%. Mass migration to city centres has spurred the growth of favelas in all cities. This new contigent of people added a new extract of poorly educated people to the work force, as well as several other problems as highlighted above. Government and society have not managed to give the proper value to rural workers that have been forced out of their properties due to the lack of a viable model to face the challenges of a globalised agriculture focused on productivity and technology.
Other issues that contribute to the problem of Favelas are:
+ Rampant Corruption - corruption on social programmes is extremely harmful and spread across all levels of government. From the police to high ranks of government, the problem affects those that need it most. For the politician or public worker the issue usually comes as a quid pro quo for their said services, as in several cases, salaries to certain positions are not leveled to responsibilities. But what most fail to see is that the problems that the corrupts most fear (namely violence and crime) are fuelled by their actions of taking out from social programmes to put in their pockets.
+ Drug trade and abuse – drug use is not an exclusivity of Brasil, in fact the country ranks low amongst the biggest consumers of drugs, but the problem is that the drug industry, differently than most rich countries, is very unstructured. It is probably easier to find drugs in a town of the United States or Europe, than in most places in Brasil. However, the lack of control, preparation and structure – this from a pure business aspect – generates a constant bickering between dealers to deliver the goods to the market (that will always exist!) causing an alarmant violence that spills out to the general population. Lack of law enforcement, the geography of favelas and the protection of the community make it the main business running in favelas with all the consequences to the population.
+ Crime and violence – poverty and crime are inherently correlated. If you exclude the drug trade, most prevalent crimes in Brasil are kidnappings, thefts, robberies and murders – this one still highly correlated with drug trade. Lack of opportunities for the young, as well as poor education, and some of the issues mentioned above can be counted as causes, but even in the richest countries of the world there will be crime. To this extent, the world and Brasil will only understand the root causes of crime when it understands the psychological and sociological aspects associated with it – that’s my opinion at least. The lack of an effective social structure in favelas, as well as poverty, make it a breading ground for criminals.
A problem that has its roots since the formation of Brasil some 500 years ago can’t be solved in a blink of an eye, nor it can be mitigated by local initiatives that when much can put some make-up in the actual problem. What Brasil really needs is a change of mentality from all extracts of society, but particularly the poor people and the ruling class. The former needs to assume its role as the engine of progress while the latter needs to assume its responsibility of igniting this progress. It is a win-win situation that has not happened yet due to the lack of a common cause. But 2009 has seen a unique set of events that can create an unparalell opportunity to solve hard-pressed issues of long. The choice of Brasil as the 2014 FIFA World Cup host, and Rio de Janeiro as the 2016 Summer Olympics host have created a common cause that should be the foundation of a complete change in Brasil.
Our following article will discuss Practical Solutions and Local Actions that may mitigate the problem in the years to come.
