Borders, Bocas, and Bailes: Gang Governance in Rio de Janeiro

Hundreds of favelas (shantytowns) dot the sprawling urban landscape of Rio de Janeiro. In these communities, drug trafficking gangs have replaced the state as the primary political authority. This presentation will focus on the various ways that gangs have legitimized their rule within these territories and is based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Complexo da Maré, a group of 15 favelas in Rio’s northern zone, where several gangs vie for territorial control.