The Metonymies of the Pacified Participation

Abstract

The aim of this research was, firstly, to identify the significations of participation in the social practices of different actors involved in the Pacification Policy implementation in four poor neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. Secondly, to analyze stresses and contradictions presented in the participation methodologies designed by social programs developed in the pacified territories. Instead, we considered the multiple forms of associative life and participation in the favelas, built along the dwellers history of each territory. This provides the repertory of collective action of each group. We found different public agents using several forms of metonyms to designate their conception of participation, such as: proximity; convincement; matricidal governance; strength of social capital. This rhetoric is confronted by the discourse of the inhabitants in a dispute of hegemony and search for power sharing.