Results show that strong social capital within favela communities coexists with a sharp perception of the divisions between the favela and the city. A sense of belonging, an attempt to reject fear and a perception of social cohesion and conviviality are the three factors that emerged in the analysis, corroborating previous research that identifies strong social bonds and high levels of social capital in the poor communities of Rio (Pearlman, 2010; Zaluar & Ribeiro, 2009).
Table 3.2 shows each one of the items, as well as the factors and their loadings. The first factor, belonging, shows strong attachment to place and to people, as well as feelings of belonging and desire to stay in the community. This is reinforced by the second factor, rejection of fear. The items that comprise this factor show that 77 per cent of respondents strongly disagreed or just disagreed with the item ‘I am afraid to live here’, and 61 per cent of respondents strongly disagreed or just disagreed with the item ‘It is dangerous to live in this community’. This rejection of fear is further indication of participants’ attachment to place and of the need to defend community. This is confirmed by the interviews, where it becomes clear that fear is not about living in the area, but of a stray bullet, the fear of loss and the suffering related to the war between the narcotraffic and the police. The community is not considered dangerous and commands a strong sense of belonging.
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table 3.2 The Self in the Community: Belonging, Rejection of Fear and Cohesion
Items Factor 1
belonging Factor 2
RejFear Factor 3 Cohesion
I am very attached to this place. 0.820
I like to live in this place. 0.722
If I could I would leave this place. -0.670
In this place I feel at home. 0.645
When I leave this place I want to come back. 0.633
I am strongly attached to the people who live here. 0.548
I am afraid to live here. 0.884
It is very dangerous to live in this community. 0.883
People here are united and fight for what they want. 0.839
People here get along with each other. 0.817
Eigenvalues2 3.512 1.442 1.166
Cronbach a a=0.765 a=0.795 a=0.619
Note. Rotated 3 factor solution. Varimax Rotation. Items ordered by factor loadings. 61.2% of variance explained.
Source: Questionnaire.
Fear is a strong and powerful feeling in the lifeworld of the favela, but it relates to the dangers of losing a loved one for the narcotraffic, the fear of losing out in the route of sociability and finding that crime and exclusion have won over education, self-realisation, work, and social inclusion: this is what community dwellers are afraid of, not of their communities. This complex experience of fear can be seen in the voice of a young man from Vigario Geral. His narrative is found throughout the four communities we studied.
Researcher: And how is it to live here?
Interviewee: It is easy going, easy going. Yes, we can be a bit apprehensive, you know! At any moment there can be an invasion, or perhaps not… you see? We can be apprehensive because we don’t know what is going to roll… all can happen when you live inside! It is not bad, it is only this question. Something can explode and there can be crossfire out of the blue. But apart from that, if you take out the drug trade, it is easy going, very calm, it is more secure in here than outside.
Researcher: Why more secure?
Interviewee: It is more secure… for example, here you can be sure nobody will enter your house and rob you, put a gun in your head. Of this we are sure. Theft and burglary here, no!
Only if someone is mad to come and burgle in the favelas…
what we see in the Southern zone is more complicated.
(Vigario Geral, male, 28 years old)
“
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What the extract above shows is that, if it were not for the drug trade, this young man would consider his community safer than the rest of the city. For him, Vigario Geral is free from the dangers he identifies outside the favela.
The third factor found is community cohesion, with participants tending to agree that people in the community are united and they like each other. This factor adds to the sense of belonging and suggests that favela communities sustain strong bonds and social capital. This is corroborated by the literature and embodied in practices such as the mutirao, where collective efforts are deployed for mutual help towards building a house, repairing a public area, or executing a service that benefits the whole community (Pearlman, 1978, 2010; Moreira Alves & Evanson, 2011; Zaluar & Ribeiro, 2009).
The analysis of the questionnaire is complemented by the analysis of qualitative data that reveals in more detail the contradictions and ambivalence that permeate the positive attachment and relation to place we find in the survey. Whereas solidarity, friendship and social cohesion are important aspects of the discourse of participants, it is the dichotomy morro/asfalto and the problem of crossings between these two worlds that take centre stage when favela-dwellers talk about the community.
Figure 3.7 shows the preponderance of segregation, urban frontiers and security followed by the presence of the police and the social capital of the community. We can observe thus that these contradictory elements make the overall lifeworld of the favela, at the level of the Self and at the level of the community.
Figure 3.7 The Community
Note. Reported experiences of the self, ranked by frequency. Multiple coding allowed.
Source: Interviews.
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