Slums, Work and Capital Accumulation in Brazilian Cities: Are New Patterns Possible?

Many argue that the violence of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, Brazil’s second and third largest cities, reflects the failure of economic growth to deliver dignified work to young people living in poor urban neighborhoods. Yet Brazil now faces the paradox that, in contrast to older global centers of capitalist accumulation, employment opportunities are booming and real wages rising, but available labor lacks necessary skills. In this paper we consider prospects for changing patterns of distribution through the most logical response to this paradox: equipping those whose survival currently depends on low-paid manual, informal, casual or illegal work to participate in labor markets that demand more skill. The context of our discussion is the urban redevelopment associated with Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup and Olympic Games, which highlights how political and economic power relations may impede “logical” and viable solutions, even when state income transfer programs are relatively effective.