Porto Alegre’s sociopolitical urbanism and neoliberal economic dynamics: Perspectives from a local community in the Afro-Brazilian periphery

Abstract

Over the last four centuries, the urbanization of Latin America has created inequalities that manifest themselves distinctly within the scales observed. From global to local and from local to global, the changes provoked by globalization and neoliberalism have imposed new forms and strategies of reproduction, life and capital on the agents that produce these spaces. This article looks at the urbanization process in Brazil and its southernmost metropolis (Porto Alegre) from this perspective. Rising from a colonial economy supported by the exploitation of slaves, there is a significant level of inequality in the city with respect to race and social class. The global and local contexts are studied in order to investigate the forms of spatial, economic and political organization in an area on the periphery of Porto Alegre—the Restinga neighborhood. The results show that although the state is only partially present in the region, the forms of governmentality reveal the important role played by public authorities and community self-organization, based on the intense use of information technology, solidarity, and female leadership.