“Black Bodies, Wrong Places”:Spatial and Morality Politics of Rolezinho Racialized Youth...

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Osmundo Pinho – março de 2014 1 Black Bodies, Wrong Places”: Spatial and Morality Politics of Rolezinho Racialized Youth “Invasions” and Police Repression in the Public Spaces of Today’s Brazil 1 Osmundo Pinho Federal University of Recôncavo Bahia (Cachoeira) BRAZIL Visiting Scholar at University of Texas (Austin) Fellow of CAPES (Coordination for Improvement of Higher Level Personnel) [email protected] Introduction: Subjectivity and Contradiction in the Making of Rolezinho In this paper I present a provisionary interpretation of a new type of social phenomenon that mobilized a new kind of social subject, which became known as "rolezinho". The interpretation is provisional, not only because the relevant facts in question are still ongoing in its original setting, the Brazilian urban society, but also because the material collected has not been fully analyzed. The interpretation proposed here is based on two different sets of data. On one side I have collected, without pretense of exhaustion, but with amplitude, newspapers articles, videos and other texts available on the Internet about the subject, since the starting event in the city of Vitoria in November 2013, until the relative dilution of the strength of the phenomenon in February 2014. At the time this dossier has 101 records for articles and 13 records for videos. The other set of data on which I base refers to my previous and current research experience in the states of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, with social subjects of a very similar or analogue social profile (age, class origin, racial composition) of the protagonists of “rolezinho” on its main stage, the State of Sao Paulo Considering these two distinct sets of data lead me to build the following interpretation: first, how the media and current interpretations of “rolezinho” helped to build its sociological meaning and define the course that events would 1 I I would like to thank Justin Perez for the revision of the text.

Transcript of “Black Bodies, Wrong Places”:Spatial and Morality Politics of Rolezinho Racialized Youth...

 

Osmundo  Pinho  –  março  de  2014  1  

“Black  Bodies,  Wrong  Places”:    Spatial  and  Morality  Politics  of  Rolezinho  Racialized  Youth  “Invasions”  and  Police  Repression  in  the  Public  Spaces  of  Today’s  Brazil1    

 Osmundo  Pinho  

Federal  University  of  Recôncavo  -­‐  Bahia  (Cachoeira)  BRAZIL  Visiting  Scholar  at  University  of  Texas  (Austin)  

Fellow  of  CAPES  (Coordination  for  Improvement  of  Higher  Level  Personnel)  [email protected]    

   Introduction:  Subjectivity  and  Contradiction  in  the  Making  of  Rolezinho  

In   this   paper   I   present   a   provisionary   interpretation   of   a   new   type   of   social  

phenomenon  that  mobilized  a  new  kind  of   social   subject,  which  became  known  as  

"rolezinho".  The  interpretation  is  provisional,  not  only  because  the  relevant  facts  in  

question  are  still  ongoing  in  its  original  setting,  the  Brazilian  urban  society,  but  also  

because  the  material  collected  has  not  been  fully  analyzed.  

The  interpretation  proposed  here  is  based  on  two  different  sets  of  data.  On  

one   side   I   have   collected,   without   pretense   of   exhaustion,   but   with   amplitude,  

newspapers   articles,   videos   and   other   texts   available   on   the   Internet   about   the  

subject,   since   the   starting   event   in   the   city   of  Vitoria   in  November  2013,   until   the  

relative  dilution  of   the  strength  of   the  phenomenon   in  February  2014.  At   the   time  

this  dossier  has  101  records  for  articles  and  13  records  for  videos.  

The   other   set   of   data   on   which   I   base   refers   to   my   previous   and   current  

research  experience  in  the  states  of  Bahia  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  with  social  subjects  of  

a  very  similar  or  analogue  social  profile  (age,  class  origin,  racial  composition)  of  the  

protagonists  of  “rolezinho”  on  its  main  stage,  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo  

Considering   these   two   distinct   sets   of   data   lead  me   to   build   the   following  

interpretation:   first,   how   the   media   and   current   interpretations   of   “rolezinho”  

helped   to   build   its   sociological  meaning   and   define   the   course   that   events   would  

                                                                                                               1  I  I  would  like  to  thank  Justin  Perez  for  the  revision  of  the  text.  

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014   2  

take  and  assume;   secondly,   andwhat  may   interest  me  more,   allow  me   to  ask  how  

Subjectification   processes,   marked   by   inequality   and   violence,   racism   and  

contradictory   relationships   with   the   state   and   the   market,   are   the   basis   for   the  

agency   of   young   people   involved   in   “rolezinho”   precisely   because   subjectivity   and  

agency  seem  to  define  the  political  and  explosive  content  of  the  phenomenon.  

The  “rolezinho”  is  not  an  organized  social  movement,  with  explicitly  political  

purposes,  some  kind  of  hierarchy  or  formal  program,  but  conversely  appears  to  be  

relatively  spontaneous,  inspired  by  the  ambitions  of  young  people  to  gather  in  places  

they  consider  appropriate  and  interesting  to  talk,  date,  and  take  pictures  to  post  on  

Facebook   and   other   social   networks.   Neither   it   is   a   performance,   or   flash-­‐mob,  

despite  clearly  being  “site-­‐specific”  (Kwon,  1997).  

But  precisely  because  of  its  spontaneous  trait  it  appear  so  politically  radical.  I  

argue  that  it   is  because  it   is  the  collective  expression,  of  a  subjective  contradiction,  

or  rather,  of  a  structural  contradiction  in  Brazilian  society,  lived  in  a  subjective  way.  

The   “rolezeiros”   do   nothing  more   than   take   in   their   full   extension   the   values   that  

organize   the   society  of   the   spectacle   in  peripheral   capitalism,  giving   to   the  market  

the   power   to   make   their   identities   objective.   However   as   they   are   racialized   and  

marked  as   subjects   of   class,   coming   from   the   “periphery”,   the   realization  of   these  

aspirations  is  impossible  without  the  proper  social  order  has  been  disturbed,  and  in  

that   sense   the   conservatives  who   are   fiercely   opposed   to   the   phenomenon   in   the  

media  and  public  space  are  correct.   It   is   impossible  that   the  shopping  malls  of  São  

Paulo  integrate  these  subjects,  their  music,  their  way  of  talking,  having  fun,  living  in  

public,  and  dressing,   their  values  and  perspectives,  and  their   racialized  bodies,  and  

remain  what  they  are  today.  So   it   is   the  very  subjectivity  of  the  young  people  who  

seek  to  express  themselves  that  produces  panic,  violence  and  repression.    

I  start  with  a  relatively  comprehensive  chronology  of  the  phenomenon.  Then  

I   turn   to   the  ethnographic  basis   of  my  argument.   Finally,   I   conclude  by   suggesting  

how  and  why  these  are  new  securitized  social  subjects,  trapped  in  the  contradictions  

of   the   Brazilian   national   project,   as   discussed   respectively   by   Amar   Paul   and   Joao  

Vargas  (Amar,  2013;  Vargas,  2012).  

 

 

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Chronology  of  the  Panic    

On  November  30,  2013,  a  funk  ball  that  occurred  in  the  Enseada  do  Sua,  the  coastal  

area  of  the  city  of  Vitoria,  in  the  Espirito  Santo  State,  was  dispersed  by  military  police  

with  their  usual  methods.  Some  claim  that  fights  occur,  others  who  had  “minors  and  

drug  trafficking”,  other  than  just  poor  youth  of  the  region  that  had  fun  listening  to  

funk  music,  a  demonized  soundtrack  of  Brazilian  favelas  (Miranda,  2013).  

Through  the  dissemination  of  a  mobile  video  on  the  Internet,  we  learned  that  

some  young  boys  fled  from  the  police,  taking  refuge  in  the  nearby  Shopping  Vitoria  

Mall   (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLa1Rw42b8   ).   It   was   enough   that   the  

police  were  called,  the  young  persecuted,  and  put  in  queue.  The  officers  with  heavy  

weapons,  forced  the  youth  to  sit  shirtless  on  the  floor  of  the  food  court,  with  hands  

on  head,   then  queued  were   removed   from   the  building.   Consumers  who  watched  

the  scene  applauded  the  police  action.  

 Police  Action  at  Vitoria  Shopping.  2013.  

A   week   later,   on   December   9,   according   to   several   media   websites,   around   six  

thousand   young   people   and   teenagers   -­‐   according   to   CBN   10,000   -­‐   attended   an  

appointment  gathered  through  social  networks  in  the  area  outside  the  Itaquera  Mall  

 

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in  Sao  Paulo,  the  cosmopolitan  megalopolis  that  is  the  financial  and  industrial  capital  

of  the  country,  known  for   its  particularly  severe  socio-­‐spatial  segregation  (Caldeira,  

2000).  The  event  in  Itaquera  was  classified  as  “funk  party  by  News  Websites  and  as  

“arrastão”   by   newspapers   and   TV,   and   as   a   kind   of   “stampede”   and   “invasion”   as  

well.   In   Itaquera   the   police   used   even   higher   violence   than   in   Vitoria,   including  

rubber  bullets  and  tear  gas  (Krepp  &  Souza,  2014;  Krepp,  2014;  CBN,  2013;  Donato,  

2013;  R7,  2013).  

On  December  16   it  was  the  turn  of  Shopping  Guarulhos.  According  to  Folha  

de  São  Paulo  “A  ghost  haunted  yesterday  Guarulhos  International  Mall,  the  ghost  of  

funk"  (Capriglione,  2013).  Because  as  in  Itaquera  and  Vitoria,  young  poor  people  and  

“rolezinho”  are  associated  with   funk  music.   In  Guarulhos   the  youths  “invaded”  the  

mall  singing  the  music  of  Mc  Daleste,  “funkeiro”  from  São  Paulo  murdered  on  stage  

while  doing  a  show  in  Campinas  city.  The  song   in  question,  “Let  me  go”  celebrates  

and  makes  fun  of  marijuana  use  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Ag8gBRQkc  

).   On   22   December   it   was   the   turn   of   Shopping   Interlagos.   And   by   that   time   the  

press,   especially   the   popular   TV   channels,   accused   the   young   as   criminals   and  

troublemakers.  Even  though  in  all  these  incidents  no  one  had  been  formally  charged  

with  any  crime  (Silva  &  Orrico,  2013).  

 

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 Police   Action   at   Itaquera   Shopping.     Frame   of   the   video   “Rolezin”   by   Luk@az  Ogsawara.  Veja  Sao  Paulo.  2014.  

In   the   rich  and  pleasant   city  of  Campinas   the  São  Paulo   Iguatemi  Mall  banned   the  

entry   of   unaccompanied   minors,   unless   they   reached   the   shopping   by   car  

(Polycarpo,  2013).  The  disproportion  between  the   intentions  of  the  young,  and  the  

panic  of  the  press,  with  the  subsequent  crackdown  by  police  and  legal  action  as  this,  

sparked   intense   debate   in   society   (Moretti,   2014;   G1   Sao   Paulo,   2014;   Bunduky,  

2014;  Joven  Pan,  2014).  The  means  of  mass  communication,  recruited  experts  from  

multivariate  origin,  and  broad  political   spectrum  from  far   right   to   far   left,  past   the  

black  movement  and  even  the  LGBT  movement2.  And,  perhaps,  most   interestingly,  

from  the  sociological  point  of  view,  the  comments  sections  of  newspapers,  blogs  and  

online   video   channels   exploded   in   comments   that   we   don’t   have   time   to   discuss  

here.  

On   December   2nd,   Douglas   Belchior,   professor   of   history   and   sociology,  

activist   in   the   black  movement   in   São   Paulo   and   columnist   of   the   leftist  magazine  

“Carta  Capital”,  published  in  his  column,   in  the  online  version  of  the  magazine,  the  

article  “Shopping  Vitoria:  Black  Bodies  in  the  Wrong  Place”,  which  I  quote  in  my  own  

title  here  (Belchior,  2013).  Belchior  points  out,  correctly,  what  later  would  be  more                                                                                                                  2  As  in  the  article  “Seria  Possivel  um  ‘rolezinho’  Guei?”  (Would  be  possible  a  Gay  ‘rolezinho’?)  by  Lima,  2014.    

 

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obvious.   The  main,   and   only   true   trespass   committed   by   the   young   people,   is   the  

fact   that   they   are  who   they   are,   and   tried   to   be   there   –   in   the  malls   -­‐  when   they  

should  be  in  another  place  or  position.  

Reactions   to   the   Belchior   article  were   not   slow   to   appear.   A   young   college  

student  and  political  columnist  for  a  local  newspaper  in  Vitoria  synthesized  the  camp  

of   those   who   came   to   support   the   action   of   the   police   in   the   repression   of  

“rolezinho”.  The   title  of  his  article   introduces   the  prospect:   “Arrastao  of   Imaginary  

Racism-­‐  Now  what   craves   such   racist   discourse?   Exalt   a   culture   or   opposing   social  

groups”.   The   thesis   of   “cultural   Marxism”   that   circulates   between   groups   on   the  

right,  ultraconservative  blogs  and  Face  Book  profiles  of  young  affluent  people,  made  

another  appearance  here  (Tebaldi,  2013).  

With  the  spectacular  media  coverage  and  biased  opinions  the  phenomenon  

“rolezinho”  entered  a  new  phase.  Forcing  public  authorities  and  traditional  political  

actors   to   take   the   position   setting.   So,   obviously,   many   remembered   several  

previous   discrimination   in   malls   throughout   Brazil.   And   we   cannot   overlook,   of  

course,  the  background  formed  by  state  violence  against  the  black  population,  which  

resists,   impenitent,   disregarding  any   change  of  parties   in   government  and  political  

trends.  In  the  same  month  of  November  2013,  the  press  widely  reported  results  of  a  

survey   commissioned   by   the   Brazilian   Public   Security   Forum  

(http://www2.forumseguranca.org.br/novo/   ),   a   non-­‐governmental   organization  

dedicated  to  public  safety  studies.  

According   to   the   research   all   over   Brazil,   just   in   2012,   police   killed   1,890  

people.   Champions   states   are   Rio   de   Janeiro,   Sao   Paulo,   which   are   the   most  

populous   and   urbanized   states,   and   Bahia,   in   the   impoverished   northeast,   a   state  

that  has  80%  of  the  population  of  African  origin.  Only  in  Sao  Paulo  were  563  deaths.  

Other  studies  such  as  the  “Violence  Map”  indicate  that  blacks  are  most  victimized  in  

these  statistics  (Waiselfiz,  2011).  

Organized  social  movements  sought  to  reinterpret  the  “rolezinho”  as  a  social  

movement,   which   clearly   it   is   not,   as   it   is   also   not   a   flash  mob,   or   as   Ruda   Ricci,  

researcher   of   movements   of   June,   called,   a   periphery   “occupy”   (Ricci,   2014).  

Anyway,   acts   to   support   “rolezeiros”   were   marked   and   we   sought   an   association  

 

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between  “rolezinho”  and  protests  that  shook  Brazil  in  June,  even  without  taking  into  

account  the  obvious  difference  between  the  demonstrators   in   June,   largely  college  

students,  autonomists  and   leftists,  committed  to  an  anti-­‐capitalist  perspective,  and  

the  “rolezeiros”,  poor  youth,   fascinated  with   the  world  of   commodities  and  media  

glamor.  In  Victoria,  where  it  all  started,  social  movements  marked  the    “Grand  Funk  

dance:  Arrastao  against  Racism”.  

 Great  Funk  Ball  –  “Arrastão”  against  Racism.  2013  

According   to   the   leftist   newspaper   “Carta  Capital”   in   January   14,   2014   there  were  

already  at  least  17  "rolezinhos"  marked  across  the  country  (Carta  Capital,  2014).  

The  racist  and  exclusionary  dimension  of  panic,  motivated  by  the  presence  of  

young  folk  of  popular  class  background  became  more  evident  when  the  media  and  

social  networks  have  realized  that  since  2007  students  of  the  Faculty  of  Economics,  

Administration  and  Accounting  (FEA),  of  the  University  of  São  Paulo,  the  more  elitist  

and   prestigious   of   Brazil,   performing   a   sort   of   party   to   celebrate   the   entry   of  

freshmen   at   Shopping   Eldorado   (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdyqIlOify0   ).  

According   to   the  magazine   “Caros  Amigos”   and  by   the  evidence  of   several   videos,  

hundreds   of   young   people   from   São   Paulo   elite   “invade”   the  Mall   singing   college  

hymns,  “FEA  USP  Wonderful,  best  school   in  Brazil”,  go  up  on  the  tables  of  the  food  

court,   they   doing   this  without   the   police  were   ever   called   Shopping   and   Shopping  

administration  took  no  action  (Sartorato,  2014).  

The  international  repercussions  began  on  December  23,  the  Brazilian  online  

edition   of   the   Spanish   newspaper   “El   País”   published   a   long   article,   “Brazil   Young  

 

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Vandals”  (Brum,  2013).  On  January  14,  the  same  “El  País”  publishes  another  article  

“The  Rebellion  of  the  Excluded”  and  interview  four  Brazilian  intellectuals  about  the  

phenomenon,  such  as  the  writer  Paulo  Lins  and  the  anthropologist  Alba  Zaluar,  one  

of  the  major  specialist   in  safety  studies  and  violence,  who  asks:  “What  needs  to  be  

examined   is  whether   their   presence   in   Shopping   is   harmful.   If   I  was   in   a  mall,   and  

found   a   group   of   people   of   any   social   class   screaming,   making   riot,   I   would   be  

frightened.   They   should   go   to   the   park,   why   not   go   to   Ibirapuera?   ".   (Martin   &  

Bedinelli,  2014).  

The   BBC   News  Website   has   also   published   several   articles   on   the   subject,  

starting  repercussion  in  English  on  the  subject  on  January  5,  2014,  with  the  subject  

"Rolezinhos,  Brazil's  Flashmob  Trend".  On  Jan.  15,  the  New  York  Times  asks  "Whose  

Mall  Is  It?"  and  on  jan.  19  “Brazil’s  Latest  Clash  with  Its  Urban  Youth  Takes  Place  at  

the  Mall”.  (Hebblethwaite,  2014;  Vanessa,  2014;  Romero,  2014).  

Due   to   these   developments,   it   became   impossible   for   sectors   of   the   black  

movement,  that  are  part  of  President  Dilma  Rousseff  government,  (Workers  Party),  

remain   silent.   Faced   with   pressures   and   demands   coming   from   the   more   radical  

sectors  of  the  black  movement,  Luiza  Bairros  Minister  for  the  Special  Secretariat  for  

the  Promotion  of  Racial   Equality,   herself   a   radical   black   activist   in   the  70s   and  80,  

and   sociologist   and   researcher   of   racism,   stated   in   the   press   on   January   16:   “The  

demonstrations   are   peaceful.   The  problems  are   derived   from   the   reaction  of  white  

people  who  frequent  these  places  and  are  frightened  by  the  presence  of  young  black  

people”.  Minister   Bairros   was   called   soon   after   by   President   Rousseff   to   attend   a  

meeting  of  counseling  on  the  “rolezinho”,  together  with  the  Ministers  of  Justice  and  

Culture  (Franco,  2014).  

 

The  Meaning  of  "Rolezinho":  Public  Sphere,  Market  Place  and  Funk  Music  

If  there  is,  as  Mariana  Assis  points,   lack  of  real  public  spaces  for  qualified  leisure  in  

São  Paulo,  as  in  other  Brazilian  cities,  this  alone  does  not  explain  the  choice  of  young  

people  for  the  malls,  neither  the  overreaction,  as  a  manifestation  of  contradictions,  

that,   I   believe,   are   deeper.   We   should   seek   to   discuss   and   understand   the  

perspectives  of  young  people  themselves,  the  meaning  of  “public”,  and  the  content  

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014  9  

of  social  interactions  in  socially  regulated  environment  in  Brazil.  Because  one  of  the  

essential  aspects  that  the  “crisis  of  rolezinho”  brings  out  is  the  lack  of  social  spaces,  

in   the   full   sense   of   public   spaces,   for   interaction   of   different   identities   and  

subjectivities  that  make  up  urban  life  (Assis,  2014).  

On   the   other   hand,   we   should   interrogate   the   contradictory   modes   of  

production   of   the   very   subjectivity   of   these   boys   and   girls   and   how   they   are  

constituted   as   subjects,   how   they   manifest   agency   and   live   the   contradictions   of  

peripheral  capitalism,  as   the  very  same  set  of   their   self-­‐making.  What,  as   I   seek   to  

develop,  they  do  exactly  using  the  resources  available  to  them  in  fetishized  popular  

cultural   elements,   especially   in   music,   and   particularly   in   this   case,   the   so-­‐called  

“funk   ostentacao”.   In   doing   so   that   subjectivities   can   become   objective   for   the  

subjects,  through  externalized  relationship  with  the  symbolic  elements  present  as  a  

grammar   in  “funk  ostentacao”,  and  other  genres,  which  can  be  defined  as   its   core  

elements  of  worship,  fetishized  goods  and  (imaginary)  luxury  consumerism.  

I  recall  here  then  two  other  investigations  where  I  worked  before  and  which  

provide  elements,   I  believe,   to  understand   the   relationship  between,  music,  public  

space,   subjectivity  and  market  place,  what   I  believe   shapes   the  agency  behind   the  

“rolezinho”,  which  as  I  pointed  out,  is  essentially  political.  

In  the  late  90s  I  conducted  fieldwork  in  the  Historic  Center  of  Salvador,  state  

capital   of   Bahia   founded   in   1549   by   the   Portuguese.   Since   1993   the   area   of  

Pelourinho3,   the  Historic   Center,  which   is   relatively   preserved,  went   through  what  

was   called  urban   renewal,   in  order   to  make   the  area  a   showcase   for   international  

tourism.  The  region  had  previously  been  recognized,  as  World  Heritage  by  UNESCO,  

and  despite  the  intense  social  and  architectural  degradation,  romanticized  by  artists  

such  as   Jorge  Amado,  also  became  a   focus   for  black  cultural   renaissance  known  as  

"Re-­‐Africanization".   The  work  we  did   sought   to   identify   and  describe  outbreaks   of  

territorial  and  cultural  resistance  to  the  conversion  of  Pelourinho  into  a  “landscape  

of  power”  using  Sharon  Zukin  phrase,  I  intended  to  do  this  by  the  ethnography  of  the    

                                                                                                               3  Is   worth   to   mention   that   “Pelourinho”   means   literally   Pillory,   and   that   area   received   this   name  because  in  the  slavery  times  there  were  in  its  main  square  a  pillory  where  slaves  were  public  flogged  

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014   10  

“war   of   places”   that   unfolded   in   that   situation   (Pinho,   2001;   2010;   Zukin,   1991;  

Arantes,  1996).  

One  of  the  areas  I  described  was  the  Reggae  Bar.  All  the  regulars  attendants,  

according   to   the   small   survey   we   did,   consisted   of   manual   workers,   maids,  

unemployed  people,  etc.  With  the  help  of  De  Certeau  I  described  how  “proliferating  

illegitimacies”,  micro  space  hegemonies  subvert  the  legitimate  order  and  erode  the  

disciplinary  systems  of  space  and  route  (De  Certeau,  1994).    Well,  the  category  used  

by  agents  to  describe  their  own  movements  and  routes   in  the  new  Pelourinho  was  

just  “role”(Pinho,  1998).  

 "Bar  do  Reggae”,  Salvador.  Photo  by  the  author.  1995.    

Some  years  later  I  worked  on  another  investigation,  this  time  in  São  Gonçalo,  in  the  

Metropolitan   region   of   Rio   de   Janeiro,   wondering   about   how   modernization   was  

lived  under  conditions  of  poverty  and  how  the  production  of  this  scenario  of  poverty  

and   periphery   affected   the  making   of   practices   of   race   and   gender   among   young  

people  (Pinho,  2010).    

I  presented  part  of  that  investigation  right  here  in  Santa  Barbara  and  perhaps  

Dr.  Amar  and  Dr.  Miller-­‐Young  will  remember  that  I  said  that  the  contradictions  and  

unfulfilled   promise   of  modernity  were   experienced   in   a   excruciating  way   by   these  

young  people  according  to  our  data,  which  describes  how  their  particular  modes  of  

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014  11  

subjectivity   place   them   in   permanent   contradiction.   The   promises   of   subjective  

emancipation,   which   appear   as   ideologically   universal   foundation   for   national  

citizenship,   and   for   the   political   and   subjective   belonging   of   the   Brazilian   nation,  

were  routinely  denied  to  them  by  the  particularism  of  the  race  that  was  imposed  on  

them;  and  the  young  people  were  well  aware  of  that  (Pinho,  2006).  

And  it  is  here,  then,  that  comes  into  play  the  called  “funk  ostentacao”.  There  

is   no   time  here   to   develop   the   complex  history   of   funk   in  Rio   de   Janeiro,   and   the  

various  conflicts  and  crises  in  his  tone.  We  can  not  reconstruct  the  numerous  times  

that  the  bourgeois  press  has  produced  intense  moral  panic  around  the  funk  parties  

occurred   in   the   slums,   or   the   intended   connection   between   funk   and   “arrastoes”  

that  occurred  on  the  beaches  of  the  South  Zone  of  Rio   in  the  90s.  But  this  context  

helps  us  understand   then  why   the  press   and   conservative   stress   so   fast   and  make  

the   automatic   connection   between   rolezinho,   funk,   crime   and   danger(   Palombini,  

n.d.;  Scruggs  &  Lippman,  2012).  

“Funk   ostentacao”,   is   one   particular   funk   genre,  which   emerged   in   Santos,  

the   coastal   region   of   São   Paulo.   The   production   of   the   “funk   ostentacao”   hits   is  

inseparable   from   the   production   of   the   videos,   which   invariably   shows   young  

peripheral  boys  driving  expensive   imported  cars,  using  high   luxury   jewelry,   famous  

brand  clothes,  drinking  champagne  and  whiskey,  accompanied  by  half-­‐naked  women  

and  displaying  a  hundred  real  bills,   thrown  to  the  wind,  or   falling  from  the  sky   like  

rain  on  the  delighted  boys  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xoz7zRGn0  ).  

 

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014   12  

 Frame  of  the  video  "Tanto  Faz,  Tanto  Fez".  Mc  Pablo  do  Capão.  2013.  

Currently,   I  perform  research  on  racialized  youth  masculinities   in  Bahia.  Within  the  

methodological  features  we  are  using  we  found  the  monitoring  of  Facebook  profiles  

of  our  main  partners  in  the  field.  One  of  these  is  Uallyson,  Inho  Mc,  beginner  singer  

of   “funk   melody”,   a   romantic   version   of   funk.   On   his   Facebook   profile,   Uallyson,  

living   in  Cachoeira,   the   locus  of   research,  and  a  small   town  100  km  away  from  the  

capital  Salvador,  comments  and  posts  pictures  of  his  visit  to  the  nearby  city  of  Feira  

de   Santana,  who   unlike   Cachoeira   has   a   Shopping  Mall.   Uallyson   titled   his   album,  

released  in  November  2013,  before  the  events  of  December/January,  as  “Rolezin  no  

Shopping”.    

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014  13  

 From  the  Facebook  Photo-­‐Album  "Rolezin  no  Shopping".  2013.  

Securitized  New  Subjects  and  Racial  Antagonism  

In  “The  Security  Archipelago”  Paul  Amar  offers  analytical  framework  to  describe  the  

eruption  of  “rolezinho”  in  connection  with  new  modes  of  global  governance  and  its  

articulation   in   the   production   of   subjects,   subjectified   under   the   contradictory  

confluence  of  neoliberal  state  hegemony  and  securitized  State  in  the  form  of  a  new  

humanitarianism  (Amar,  2013).  

In  securitized  domination,  he  says,  sexuality  attribute  value  of  adherence  to  

control   policies   and   regulation,   so   the   “humanitarian   securitization”   is   guided   by  

abstract   conventions   of   morality   and   respectable   behavior,   aimed   at   providing  

protection  to  the  average  citizen  and  family  values,  under  attack  of  the  destructive  

forces  of  the  wild  market,  and  nonconforming  subjectivities.  

In   Brazil,   under   presidents   Lula   and   Dilma,   the   hegemony   of   the   Workers  

Party  is  defended  with  decisive  support  of  morally  conservative  groups  such  as  neo-­‐

Pentecostal  religious  clusters,   in  this  case  neo-­‐liberal  rhetoric  did  not  see  the  same  

resonance.   Rather   the   “rescue”  of  moral,   community,   religious   and   cultural   values  

seems  more  important.  In  this  environment,  and  in  a  society  marked  by  unthinkable  

levels  of  violence,  the  discourse  of  security  and  return  to  family  values  seems  widely  

prevalent.   If   we   consider   just   how   funk,   since   associated   to   “rolezeiros”   and  

“criminal”   is   the  subject  of   intense  moral  panic   for  a   long  time   in  Brazilian  society,  

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014   14  

we   can   understand   how   those   involved   in   “rolezinho”   seems   as   corrupted   by  

exacerbated  “consumerism”,  uncontrolled  sexuality  and  criminal  potential.  

In   a   society   such   as   the   Brazilian,   the   racial   variable   can   never   be  

underestimated.  Neither   race  nor   racism  may  be   treated  as   incidental   explanatory  

factors;  neither  they  must  be  understood  as  structural  elements  of  state  formation,  

of   the  subjectivities  and  even  of   the  “national  project”.    As   Joao  Vargas  questions,  

can   Brazil   as   political-­‐cultural   “polis”   integrate   blacks   and   blackness?   Vargas  

discusses   this   impossible   position,   hopelessly   antagonistic,   the   (im)possible   black  

subject  in  Brazil,    in  this  sense:  

“It   ensues   that   the   gendered   black   subject   is   an   impossible   subject,   one   whose  impossible   gender,   impossible   blackness,   impossible   being,   inhabits   the   very  impossible  co-­‐ordinates  of  time  and  space  that  make  the  nation  possible.  The  nation  is   possible   because   the   gendered   black   subject,   qua   subject,   qua   citizen,   is   an  oxymoron”.  (Vargas,  2012:  5).    The   oxymoron   of   the   black   gendered   subject   is   objectified   in   the   popular   culture  

expressive   forms   as   well   in   subjective   self-­‐making,   immersed   on   contradictions.  

There  is  no  space,  as  we  said,  for  black  bodies  in  wrong  places  in  Brazil,  and  there  is  

no  possibility  of  integration,  the  only  acceptable  policy,  seems  to  be  the  widespread  

violence  that  takes  shape  as  an  effective  genocide.  

The  black  bodies  are  not  only  out  of  place  in  the  malls,  where  this  incongruity  

gained  spectacularized  visibility  through  the  agency  of  young  “rolezeiros”,  but  in  the  

very  country’s  own  national  imagination  and  in  their  political  and  cultural  landscapes  

as  an  uncomfortable  and  fundamentally  inassimilable  presence.  

 

   

 

Osmundo  Pinho,  Santa  Barbara  –  marco  de  2014  15  

REFERENCES    

AMAR,  Paul.  The  Security  Archipelago:  Human-­‐Security  States,  Sexuality  Politics  and  the  End  of  Neoliberalism.  Durham.  Duke  University  Press,  2013.    ARANTES,  Antonio.  The  War  of  Places:  Symbolic  Boundaries  and  Liminalities  in  Urban  Space  Theory,  Culture  &  Society  November  1996  13:  81-­‐92.    ASSIS,   Mariana.   Rolezinho.   Or   is   There   Politics   in   the   Shopping   Mall?   Dissident   Voice.  16/01/2014.  http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/01/rolezinho/  .    BARBARA,   Vanessa.   Whose   Mall   Is   It?.   15/01/2014.   The   New   York   Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/opinion/barbara-­‐whose-­‐mall-­‐is-­‐it.html?_r=0      BELCHIOR,   Douglas.   Shopping   Vitória:   corpos   negros   no   lugar   errado.   Carta   Capital.  2/12/2013.   http://negrobelchior.cartacapital.com.br/2013/12/02/shopping-­‐vitoria-­‐corpos-­‐negros-­‐no-­‐lugar-­‐errado/  .    

BUNDUKY,   Ricardo.   Rolezinho   faz   Shopping   Fechar   mais   cedo.   Folha   de   Sao   Paulo.  http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidiano/146551-­‐rolezinho-­‐faz-­‐shopping-­‐fechar-­‐mais-­‐cedo.shtml  .    

BRUM,   Eliane.   Os   Novos   ‘Vandalos’   do   Brasil.   El   Pais.     23/13/2013.  http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2013/12/23/opinion/1387799473_348730.html    

CALDEIRA,   Teresa   P.   R.   City   if   Walls:   Crime,   Segregation   and   Citizenship   in   Sao   Paulo.  Berkeley:  University  of  Berkeley  Press.  2000.  

CARTA   CAPITAL.   "Rolezinhos"   se   espalham   pelo   País.   Carta   Capital.   14/01/2014.  http://www.cartacapital.com.br/sociedade/veja-­‐rolezinhos-­‐marcados-­‐para-­‐o-­‐proximo-­‐mes-­‐5517.html    

CAPRIGLIONE,   Laura.   Mesmo   sem   Crimes,   “rolezinho”   causo   panico   e   levou   policia   a  Shopping   de   Gaurulhos.   Folha   de   Sao   Paulo.   16/12/2013.  http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2013/12/1386132-­‐mesmo-­‐sem-­‐crimes-­‐rolezinho-­‐causou-­‐panico-­‐e-­‐levou-­‐policia-­‐a-­‐shopping-­‐de-­‐guarulhos.shtml  .  

CBN   Foz   do   Iguacu.   Rolezinho   do   shopping   traz  medo   e   pânico   a   sociedade.   CBN   Foz   do  Iguacu   Online.   14/12/2013.   http://www.cbnfoz.com.br/editorial/brasil/15122013-­‐60789-­‐rolezinho-­‐do-­‐shopping-­‐traz-­‐medo-­‐e-­‐panico-­‐a-­‐sociedade    .  

DE  CERTEAU,  Michel.  A  Invenção  do  Cotidiano.  Artes  de  Fazer.  Petropólis.    1969.    DONATO,  Mario.    A  Onda  de  Invasoes  a  Shoppings.  O  Essencial.  Diario  do  Centro  do  Mundo.  16/12/2013.   http://www.diariodocentrodomundo.com.br/o-­‐que-­‐significa-­‐a-­‐onda-­‐de-­‐invasoes-­‐a-­‐shoppings/  .    FRANCO,  Bernardo  Mello.  Medo  de  ‘Rolezinho  e  Reacao  de  Brancos,  diz  Ministra.  Folha  de  Sao   Paulo.   16/01/2014.   http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/painel/2014/01/1398312-­‐medo-­‐de-­‐rolezinho-­‐e-­‐reacao-­‐de-­‐brancos-­‐diz-­‐ministra.shtml  

 

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 G1  Sao  Paulo.  PM  é  chamada  para  conter   tumulto  em  shopping  na  Zona  Norte  de  SP.  G1.  04/01/2014.   http://g1.globo.com/sao-­‐paulo/noticia/2014/01/pm-­‐e-­‐chamada-­‐para-­‐conter-­‐tumulto-­‐em-­‐shopping-­‐na-­‐zona-­‐norte-­‐de-­‐sp.html  .      HEBBLETHWAITE,   Cordelia.   #BBCtrending:   #Rolezinhos,   Brazil's   'flashmob'   trend   .  15/01/2014.  BBC  News  Trending.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-­‐trending-­‐25746456  .      JOVEM  PAN  ONLINE.   Shopping  Metrô  Tucuruvi   é   alvo  de   “rolezinho”  em  São  Paulo.   Joven  Pan.   5/01/2014.   http://jovempan.uol.com.br/noticias/brasil/policia/shopping-­‐metro-­‐tucuruvi-­‐e-­‐alvo-­‐de-­‐rolezinho-­‐em-­‐sao-­‐paulo.html  .    KREPP,   Ana.   Video   Mostra   PMs   agredindo   Jovens   em   ‘rolezinho’   dentro   do   Shopping  Itaquera.     Folha   de   Sao   Paulo.   Folha   de   Sao   Paulo.   11/01/2014.  http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2014/01/1396629-­‐video-­‐mostra-­‐pms-­‐agredindo-­‐jovens-­‐em-­‐rolezinho-­‐dentro-­‐no-­‐shopping-­‐itaquera-­‐em-­‐sp.shtml  .    KREPP,  Ana  &  SOUZA,  Milton.  PM  usa  Bombas  e  Balas  de  Borracha  em   ‘Rolezinho’  em  SP;  Dois   sao   Presos.   Folha   de   Sao   Paulo.   11/01/2014.  http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2014/01/1396595-­‐policia-­‐usa-­‐bombas-­‐de-­‐gas-­‐e-­‐bala-­‐de-­‐borracha-­‐em-­‐rolezinho-­‐em-­‐sp.shtml  .    KWON,  Miwon.   One   Place   After   Another:   Notes   on   Site   Specificity.  OCTOBER,   80,   Spring.  1997.  pp.85-­‐110.      LIMA,   Carlos   Henrique   Lucas.   Seria   Possivel   um   “Rolezinho”   Guei?.  Cultura   e   Sexualidade.  2014.   http://www.ibahia.com/a/blogs/sexualidade/2014/01/17/seria-­‐possivel-­‐um-­‐%E2%80%9Crolezinho%E2%80%9D-­‐guei/  .    MARTIN,   Maria   &   BEDINELLI,   Talita.   A   Rebeliao   dos   Excluidos.   El   Pais.   14/01/2014.  http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2014/01/14/politica/1389736517_226341.html  .      MIRANDA,  Jader.  Confusao  no  Shopping  Vitoria  deixa  Clientes  em  Panico.    A  Gazeta.  Vitoria.  30/11/2013.   http://gazetaonline.globo.com/_conteudo/2013/11/noticias/cidades/1470338-­‐confusao-­‐no-­‐shopping-­‐vitoria-­‐deixa-­‐clientes-­‐em-­‐panico.html      MORETTI,   Juliene.  Com  medo  de   rolezinho,   JK   Iguatemi  barra  entrada  até  de   funcionários.  Veja   Sao   Paulo.   11/01/2014.   http://vejasp.abril.com.br/materia/rolezinho-­‐shopping-­‐jk-­‐iguatemi  .    PALOMBINI,  Carlos.  Funk  Proibido.  https://www.academia.edu/5268654/_Funk_proibido_    PINHO,  Osmundo  de  A.  The  Songs  of  Freedom:  notas  etnográficas  sobre  cultura  negra  global  e  práticas  contraculturais  locais.  In  .  ___  .     SANSONE,  L.  e     SANTOS,  J.  T.     dos.    Ritmos  em  Trânsito.  Sócio-­‐Antropologia  da     Música    Baiana.   Salvador.   Dynamis   Editorial/  Programa  a  Cor  da  Bahia/Projeto     Samba.  pp.  181-­‐200.  1998.      PINHO,   Osmundo   de   Araujo.   "Fogo   na   Babilônia":   Reggae,   Black   Counterculture   and  Globalization  in  Brazil.  In  .  ___  .  PERRONE,  C.  &  DUNN,  C.  (Eds.).  Brazilian  Popular  Music  and  Globalization.  Gainesville.  University  Press  of  Florida.  2001.  pp.  192-­‐216.  

 

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 PINHO,   Osmundo.  Ultra-­‐Modern   Heroes:   Race,   Gender   and   Unequal  Modernization   in   the  Rio   de   Janeiro   Periphery.   Santa   Barbara.   2006.   https://www.academia.edu/5672412/Ultra  Modern_Heroes_Race_Gender_and_Unequal_Modernization_in_the_Rio_de_Janeiro_Periphery      PINHO,  O.  S.  A.  .  "Tradition  as  Adventure":  Black  Music,  New  Afro-­‐Descendent  Subjects  and  Pluralization  of  Modernity  in  Salvador  da  Bahia.  In:  Idelber  Avelar;  Christopher  Dunn.  (Org.).  Brazilian  Popular  Music  and  Citizenship.  266  ed.  Duke:  Duke  University  Press,  2010,  v.  1,  p.  -­‐250.      PINHO,  O.  S.  A.  .  Heróis  Ultra-­‐Modernos:  raça,  gênero  e  modernização  desigual  na  periferia  do   Rio   de   Janeiro.   In:   Rosana   Heringer;   Osmundo   Pinho.   (Org.).   Afro-­‐Rio   Século   XXI   -­‐  Modernidade  e  Relações  Raciais  no  Rio  de  Janeiro.  1  ed.  Rio  de  Janeiro:  Garamond,  2010,  v.  1,  p.  173-­‐251    POLYCARPO,  Cecilia.  Shopping  Barra  a  Entrada  de  Aolescentes  ‘Suspeitos”.  Correio  Popular.  Campinas.   16/12/2013.  http://correio.rac.com.br/_conteudo/2013/12/capa/campinas_e_rmc/133882-­‐shopping-­‐barra-­‐entrada-­‐de-­‐adolescentes-­‐suspeitos.html  .    RICCI,  Ruda.  O  Fenomeno  do  Rolezinho,  o  Ocuppy  da  Periferia.    Geledes  Instituto  da  Mulher  Negra.   13/01/2014.   http://www.geledes.org.br/areas-­‐de-­‐atuacao/questao-­‐racial/violencia-­‐racial/22755-­‐o-­‐fenomeno-­‐do-­‐rolezinho-­‐o-­‐occupy-­‐da-­‐periferia  .    ROMERO,  Simon.  Brazil’s  Latest  Clash  with  Iys  Urban  Youth  Takes  Place  at  the  Mall.  The  New  York   Times.     19/01/2014.   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/world/americas/brazils-­‐latest-­‐clash-­‐with-­‐its-­‐urban-­‐youth-­‐takes-­‐place-­‐at-­‐the-­‐mall.html  .  

R7   Noticias.   Dois   são   presos   após   baile   funk   em   shopping   terminar   em   arrastão.   R7.   Sao  Paulo.   9/12/2013.   http://noticias.r7.com/sao-­‐paulo/dois-­‐sao-­‐presos-­‐apos-­‐baile-­‐funk-­‐em-­‐shopping-­‐terminar-­‐em-­‐arrastao-­‐09122013  .  

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