ANT E105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Favela, Structural Violence, Police Corruption
Document Summary
Favelas, under the control of local drug bosses, became the ideal sites for the refinement of cocaine. The boca de fumo, where drug dealers gather to ply their trade, is the economic center of the drug trade and the public face of the traffic in. Rocinha"s traffickers make reference to two principal legitimating discourses when describing their activities: They employ validating paradigms of the state government. They frame themselves as a parallel state. They talk about themselves as a successful corporation operating in a competitive market place. The line between legal and illegal forms of governance and commerce is very thin. For traffickers, a key part of being a recognized governing force is having the ability to use violence and to punish legitimately. They see their use of force as legitimate, as essential to creating a climate of deterrence and terror. Traffickers do not depend on the threat of physical force alone.
