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Communities organizing to end Brazil's urban war on drugs

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9781439900048

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After years of waging war on the population of the favelas, the authorities in Rio de Janeiro are in the process of adopting a different model of engagement based on community policing. Based on interviews with community leaders and public security officials, the authors explore the extent to which such a transformation is possible. Living in the Crossfire is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of violence in Rio de Janeiro and beyond. Robert Gay, Chair of the Department of Sociology at Connecticut College

After years of waging war on the population of the favelas, the authorities in Rio de Janeiro are in the process of adopting a different model of engagement based on community policing. Based on interviews with community leaders and public security officials, the authors explore the extent to which such a transformation is possible. Living in the Crossfire is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of violence in Rio de Janeiro and beyond. Robert Gay, Chair of the Department of Sociology at Connecticut College [A] timely look at Rio de Janeiro's favelas... Most of the book consists of interviews with favela residents, police and government officials. The community members' interviews are most compelling as they detail not only the violence and threat of violence they live with daily but also the strong sense of community and hope for better days... Verdict: An important book for sociology and human rights collections that will also appeal to readers interested in crime and politics. - Library Journal As Alves and Evanson make clear midway through this excellent and informative book, Brazil's human rights record has not improved since 1985, when the country moved from a military dictatorship to a constitutional democracy. Quite the reverse, on the base of sheer numbers things have become worse... The calling to attention to this situation and the examination of it in all its multifaceted complexity are two of the many merits of Living in the Crossfire, a comprehensive, informative and at times harrowing study of institutional, political and human costs of uncontrolled state violence in territories of poverty. - Journal of Latin American Studies, November 2012

Author Information

Maria Helena Moreira Alves is retired from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. She twice received a Tinker International Fellowship to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked with various human rights organizations, trade unions in Latin America, and nongovernmental organizations. She is the author of State and Opposition in Military Brazil. Philip Evanson is Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of History and former Director of the Latin American Studies Center at Temple University. He collaborated with author Rose Marie Muraro on the book Memorias de uma mulher impossivel.

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