Direct relations with the State and markets may be a risk, indeed one that the leadership of AfroReggae and CUFA themselves openly voiced when interviewed. Engaging with unusual partners without the traditional scruples of social movements opens these organisations to criticisms such as selling out, compromising and avoiding the critical position that should be the hallmark of all social movements. However, this danger is underplayed by the new potentials identified in partnerships and collaborations developed. Most see these potentials realised in a positive way, both for the development of AfroReggae and CUFA and for the development of the sectors they engage with (as demonstrated above). This is visible in what one of AfroReggae’s leaders stated:
“I changed, didn’t I? If I tell you I didn’t, I will be lying to you.
Twenty years ago… my friends, most of my friends died.
They were killed. I thought I was going to die, too. I tried to anticipate some problems in my life. I felt the threat of my own death. So, I am not that person anymore. But I think I kept an essence… a good essence. For instance, I had a lot
“
161
New Actors, New Actions: AfroReggae and CUFA
of prejudices. Against whites… against gringos [foreigners]...
against companies… but today I don’t anymore…”
(AfroReggae, leader)
The actions and partnership of AfroReggae and CUFA with the State, the media and private sector are theorised as containing risks but being positive overall, in particular because they allow for bringing vitality and innovation to all involved. In the context of Brazil’s economic development this is particularly the case, as the private sector is rediscovering both the market represented by favela populations and the need to develop policies of corporate responsibility.
There is an economy of the favela, as there is a requirement for governance that takes into account the favelas; this is being played out and elaborated through a dialogue between the multiple stake-holders involved. One example of this discussion is the assistance provided by AfroReggae and CUFA in the various educational and training activities they offer. These organisations offer a first point of call when it comes to the lack of basic State services in health, employment and training. Many question if this is something NGOs should be doing. In this process it can be observed that the risk of co-optation coexists with the potentials of collaboration:
“… there is a limit between being a laboratory of public policies and a public policy executor. In this sense it is difficult, because this is a very delicate border. It is a border that CUFA and AfroReggae are sitting on today. Viva Rio has been there and so has Observatorio das Favelas [Observatory of Favelas]. So, we have these organisations and I think... their success also means, to some extent, a closer involvement with the State. For the State it is: ‘You guys go, and we will give you conditions’.”
(Research Institute, partner)
“
However, observers are unanimous in pointing to the main outcome of the interactions with State, media and markets: the repositioning of these new social actors in the agenda of the Brazilian public sphere. In this sense collaboration is judged as valid and overriding the risks of co-optation, something that is expressed in the following voice:
“… it is important to listen to them and to have interventions as the ones they produce, but they refuse to scale up their projects. They want to produce demonstration-projects because scale is something the State must do. They say it to themselves. Junior has already said that AfroReggae is not a franchise… so what is my hypothesis? They are mediators.
AfroReggae and CUFA are important because they talk to Globo. They talk to the National Congress… What happened in Brazil in the 2000s is this: they became interlocutors of the president, of Globo TV, of the mayor, of the London School of Economics, of CESeC [Centre of Studies on Security and Citizenship]. That is what they did. Is this little?
They changed Brazil. They can be important for the boy in Vigario, but… forget this it is not true. It does not change a lot. Of course it changes individual lives, but other things also change individual lives: the football school, the Evangelicals, but AfroReggae changed Brazil. CUFA changed Brazil.”
(Academic, partner)
While the overall research did not focus on the specific differences between AfroReggae and CUFA, results point to some important distinctions, which are particularly related to the style of leadership and to organisational structure.
These aspects are mentioned as challenging areas for these organisations both internally and externally.
“
163
New Actors, New Actions: AfroReggae and CUFA
External observers point to the need to reflect on leadership style, succession and the role played by leaders in sustaining the institutions.
“I cannot imagine what would happen to AfroReggae if Junior decided to live in Jamaica. This is a problem. But of course, AfroReggae exists because of Junior, but it cannot be a project that will only exist thanks to Junior. I think that the challenge, when you talk about a base, is that they have to be self-sustainable.”
(Globo Network, partner)
“AfroReggae is a more centralised institution that has a commander, as it were. We work with them and we know.
Junior makes a big effort to de-centralise it, but you have the personality of the creator. Because AfroReggae has the AfroReggae creator and AfroReggae created… CUFA, they have a network process of distributing leadership…”
(UNESCO Office in Brazil, partner)
The challenges of professionalisation, development of competences and understanding the role and style of leaders are just some of the issues these organisations will need to face as they grow and establish their position in the Brazilian public sphere. The complexity they present relates to the fact that they are hybrids and do not fit into any one single model of NGO, private company or social movement. They incorporate elements of all these and do not easily conform to frameworks that juxtapose styles of dealing with and thinking about social transformation. If for some the opposition is between markets and politics, the experience AfroReggae and CUFA shows that these two ways can be successfully combined. They do not oppose States and markets, nor distance themselves from
“
international agencies and academia, nor separate social movements from these various arenas, instead they work with all; in this process, they demonstrate that the benefits of interlocution across sectors exceed the dangers.
5.5. towards Social integration: Self, Favela and city
In this section, we present a synthesis of the core elements of AfroReggae and CUFA’s aims and methodology as perceived by the community, external observers, partners and police. We use data from the projects and from the analysis of their relations with the police, including the case study reported in Chapter 4. There is convergence between sources which adds robustness to the findings.
The core aims and methodology of AfroReggae and CUFA comprise: