course material

1. Understanding the Brazilian Favelas
Community level development efforts in Brazil in urban areas and brazil isa catholic place a
lot of organizations would have religious connections.liberation theology?
(background) catholic versus african religions any part of church in brazil helping
the poor? have the churches abandoned these
neighbourhoods?Answer:Introduction ‘ Favela’ is a term generally used in Brazil to
mean a shanty town. It is a place where former slaves with no land and who had no other
option lived. Many Brazilian citizens who were poor were forced out of towns and were
forced to live in the suburbs. These towns- referred to as bairros africanos or “ African
neighbourhoods” -expanded over the years as many black slaves were freed. In the 19th
century, due to what was known as rural exodus, many people moved from the rural areas
of Brazil to the cities. Since many people couldn’ t find a decent place to live in, they ended
up in Favelas (Perlman, 2006). The term Favela was coined in the late 1800’ s, during that
time, veteran soldiers who had served the army in Bahia, were familiar with the Canudos’ s
Favela Hill – in reference to Favela, a skin irritating tree- and when they settled in the
Providence hill in Rio de Janeiro, they nicknamed the place Favela Hill and hence calling a
slum Favela for the first time. The Favelas as we know them were formed prior to the dense
occupation of cities and the domination of real estate interests.ThesisThe characteristic
feature of citizens living in the Favelas i.e. the favela of rocinha in Rio de Janeiro is poverty
and hunger. The government has failed to call attention to the problems of poverty and
make these issues visible on the national political agenda. Brazilian society had, somehow,
avoided the subject throughout the 1980s, and at the level of day– to– day perceptions and
practices poverty had become a way of life and accepted. Favelas are built around the edge
of the main cities, with time, communities form within the favela. In turn, these
communities develop an array of social and religious organizations and they form
associations so that they can be able to obtain such services as running water and
electricity. Drugs and favela have become woven into a social fabric. The drugs business
– especially cocaine- cannot prosper without the existence of the Favela. The church
therefore has got a big part to play to help curb down this practise. Most of the people living
in the Favelas go to church on Sunday and Wednesday, they listen to their pastors more
than they listen to the resident associations or their local government outreach workers.
The church has helped in building confidence and dignity, and has helped by playing a
significant role in stabilizing the poor Favelas. The church members in the Favelas help each
other in building houses, starting businesses and taking care of the sick. In some instances,

2. the pastors have helped counsel gang leaders to reduce violence. The church discourages
drinking and handling of illegal drugs, therefore it has helped in counselling individuals
associated with the vice to cease altogether. The church has definitely helped in a positive
way to deal with issues in the Favelas; however, some of the stands that the church takes
have seen some of the underlying issues of the Favelas hard to tackle. For instance, the
Catholic Church discourages the use of birth control measures. This has seen the population
continue to spiral beyond control. In addition, the Catholic Church discourages the use of
Condoms (it is regarded as a form of birth control), this has made it hard to curb the spread
of HIV & AIDS amongst the people living in the Favelas.JustificationChristianity and
especially the Catholic Church enjoy wide support from the inhabitants of Brazil. As a
religious obligation, they need to see to it that they use their influence to address the issues
surrounding people in the Favelas. Religion together with the government have got a huge
part to play, the government has got an obligation – legal obligation- to ensure that all its
citizens are equally treated, for it is a government of the people, for the people and by the
people. The government’ s existence is by virtue of the votes of the whole country including
the people in the Favelas; therefore, the government has got an obligation to address issues
surrounding the Favelas. As mentioned earlier, most of the people living in the Favelas
spend their time in churches, therefore the church has got their audience and if properly
utilised, they can help reduce the vices so rampant in the Favelas.Research
MethodologyHistorical data will be greatly relied upon in the conducting of this research.
This will help in understanding the origin of the Favelas. Internet resources will also be
relied upon. They will help in cutting costs that the researcher has to incur in terms of
travelling expenses in order to conduct the research. Other reports surrounding the issue of
Favelas and how religion has either helped or worsened the development of Favelas will be
relied upon to help give expert opinions in this subject matter. E-Books and available library
books will also be used to get information on the subject.Importance of the
ResearchPoverty and hunger are crippling issues. The world all over is trying to see how
best it can help kick hunger and poverty out of people’ s daily lives. The history of Favelas is
rooted in these two issues. Therefore it is important to find out how best hunger and
poverty can be tackled so that other vices in the Favelas can be curbed. Without tackling
these two main issues, then it would become very hard to address the plight of the Favelas
effectively. The findings in this research people will be used to educate people on the origin
of the Favelas, the problems surrounding the Favelas, what has been done and what needs
to be done to improve the conditions in the Favelas if not eliminating the Favelas altogether.
Life in the Favelas has been influential in modern culture, for instance, some movies like
Fast Five have had their stories based on the lives in the Favelas. Therefore, there is need to
upgrade or positively develop the Favelas so that the culture in the Favelas cannot be
copied in other parts of the world; especially for the wrong reasonsANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPHYAlthaus, R at el. (2007). Another Possible World. Presbyterian Pub Corp.This
article gives an overview of how religion came to liberate the oppressed. The Favelas of
Brazil in this case are the group which is seen to be oppressed and forgotten even by their
government. Althaus asserts that liberation theologies are born from the struggles of the
poor and the oppressed. Liberation theology was born upon hearing the cry of the

3. oppressed and contributors believe that another world is possible where justice reigns. The
researcher will use this book to try and explain why religion has got a part to play in the
positive development of the Favelas.Arias, E. (2006), Criminal Gangs, Dispute Resolution,
and Identity in Rio de Janeiro’ sFavelas. The Myth of Personal Security. American Politics &
Society, Winter, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p 53– 81.This article talks about the way drug traffickers
resolve disputes and maintain order in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Many scholars who
have researched this area have argued that drug traffickers play a major role in controlling
crimes and violence as well as resolving conflicts in Rio de Janeiro. This makes the Favela
residents have a sense of personal security in a neighbourhood which is dominated by
violence. This article will help the researcher to identify the real cause of drug trafficking
and how this contributes to the violence or has curbed violence and poverty in the Favelas
of Brazil. It will also help the researcher to draw conclusions and inferences based on the
findings in this book.Berryman, P. (2002). Religion in the Megacity: Catholic and Protestant
Portraits from Latin America. Orbis Books. Berryman in his book presents Catholic and
Protestant portraits from Latin America describing Roman Catholic, historical Protestant
and Pentecostal communities in two Latin America megacities, namely; Sao Paulo, Brazil
and Caracas. Pentecostal and evangelical communities have largely grown and have a great
influence in the entire world and in these two cities in particular. They were overtaking the
Catholics in popularity and it was seen like the whole of Latin America was going Protestant
and therefore the inhabitants felt that there was a need to integrate and learn from one
another. This book will be of great help to the researcher in understanding the history of
religion in the Favelas. Furthermore, the researcher will draw heavily from this book to find
out whether the integration of these dominations had an impact on the lives of the Favelas
in Brazil.Perlman, J. E. (2006).The Metamorphosis of Marginality: Four Generations in the
Favelas of Rio De Janeiro. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science.606 AnnalsThis article is an overview of a four generational study of residents in
three shanty towns (Favelas) in Rio de Janeiro from 1968-2003. It shows how
marginalization of urban people has deepened over the past thirty five years. This was
contributed by massive drug related violence, the failure of democracy to deliver on its
promise, the increase in unemployment and the inability to translate educational
knowledge to occupational gain. Despite improvement in consumption of collective urban
services, household goods and schooling, few have been successful in moving into good
neighbourhoods or even getting a decent job. Gang violence in these Favelas creates fear
which makes people unable to work freely. They therefore become unproductive, thereby
diminishing the social capital of the society. But still the communities in these Favelas have
hopes that their lives will improve in future. This book will lead the researcher into
understanding the type of lives these people live and what forced them into this kind of
life.Sharon, D. (2007). Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate
Globalization. Fortress Press. This book is an eye opening look at spiritually motivated
action against corporate globalization. It offers an incisive overview and theological analysis
of global economic institutions and their effects. It also reveals the larger cultural and social
import of globalization. It also gives reports, stories of nonviolent resistance to corporate
globalization and gives examples of sustainable alternatives. Humanity faces a living hell of

4. widespread poverty, social upheaval, repression, war, ecological collapse, and human
misery. The destructive forces at work in this crisis are not abstract or irreversible, but
emerge from actual institutions that hold political, economic, and military power. This book
presents an overview of the workings of the institutional “ Powers” that make up the
system of corporate globalization, including transnational corporations, rule-making
bureaucracies such as the IMF, World Bank, and WTO, and enforcement establishments
such as the US military/industrial complex. It suggests ways that people of faith can join
with others to “ shake the gates of hell,” resisting the horror of a barren, violent, and
poisoned future, while developing viable alternatives to help build a peaceful, just, and
sustainable world. Therefore the researcher will use this book to find out how people
through coming together and ‘ shaking the gates of hell’ , can stop violence and live
peacefully in the Favelas. The importance of peaceful living cannot be undermined because,
under peaceful conditions, investment shoots or “ germinates” from investment seeds
which have long been planted by individuals.Burdick, J. (1993) Looking for God in Brazil:
The Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil’ s Religious Arena. Illustrated Edition.
University of California Press.For a generation, the Catholic Church in Brazil has enjoyed
international renown as one of the most progressive social forces in Latin America. The
Church’ s creation of Christian Base Communities (CEBs), groups of Catholics who learn to
read the Bible as a call for social justice, has been widely hailed. Still, in recent years it has
become increasingly clear that the CEBs are lagging far behind the explosive growth of
Brazil’ s two other major national religious movements– Pentecostalism and Afro-Brazilian
Umbanda. On the basis of his extensive fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro, including detailed life
histories of women, blacks, youths, and the marginal poor, the author of the book makes us
understand why the Radical Catholic Church is losing. From these reasons, the researcher
will be able to give a way forward in addressing the weaknesses presented and be able to
chart a way forward for the catholic church t revive its stature and consequently the useful
programs it had set in place.Burdick, John. & Hewitt, W. E., (Eds). (2000). The church at the
grassroots in Latin America: perspective on thirty Years of activism. Praeger. Over the past
30 years the liberationist Catholic Church has had a major impact on Latin American society
and culture. This edited volume offers both a careful assessment of the Church’ s effects on
the social, cultural, and political landscape of Latin America, and an analysis of the factors
contributing to the liberationist Church’ s recent marginalization-including the
fragmentation of the Left, the fall of authoritarian regimes, and the rise of powerful
competitors in the religious marketplace. Moving away from an exclusive focus on leaders,
clergy, and institutional elites, the contributors analyze the local, grassroots level and
provide detailed empirical accounts of the day-to-day reality of progressive movements
within the Church. Case studies from Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador,
and Nicaragua it illustrates the Church’ s impact on politics, labour and land issues, race
and gender relations, leadership, and neighbourhood organizations, which have been
instrumental in the development of Favelas. The findings in this book will help the
researcher understand the influence religion has had on the topics that will be of help in
positively influencing the development of Favelas in Brazil. Rowland, C. (Ed). The
Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology. 2nd ed. Cambridge University

5. Press.Liberation theology is widely referred to in discussions of politics and religion but not
always adequately understood. This book brings the story of the movement’ s continuing
importance and impact up to date. In the light of a more conservative ethos in Roman
Catholicism, and in theology generally, liberation theology is often said to have been an
intellectual movement tied to a particular period of ecumenical and political theology. This
book will be important to the researcher as it contains essays that indicate its continuing
importance in different contexts which will enable the researcher locate its distinctive
intellectual ethos within the evolving contextual and cultural concerns of theology and
religious studies. The case study of Brazil in Chapter Seven (7) – The origins and character
of the base ecclesial community: a Brazilian perspective- will be of more importance to the
researcher. Place your order now…