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Resisting Removal: The Impact of Community Mobilization in Rio de Janeiro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Maureen Donaghy
Maureen Donaghy*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, Camden. maureen.donaghy@rutgers.edu
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Abstract

The experiences of communities in Rio de Janeiro under threat of removal through gentrification or mega-event construction present an opportunity to review the process and impact of urban community mobilization. This article assesses the determinants of community strategies, the challenges to implementation, and the impact of mobilization on outcomes for such communities. It reviews the case of Vila Autódromo, detailing the dynamic influence of both rational expectations and the “right to the city” ideology in developing resistance strategies and providing evidence to confirm the importance of social capital and civic capacity for community efficacy. The analysis updates theorizing beyond the politics of clientelism and contributes to understanding how the urban regime approach may apply to the Latin American context, while demonstrating the continued relevance of the political opportunity structure for determining policy outcomes.

Type
Research
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , Winter 2015 , pp. 74 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2015

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