Abstract
This paper explores the long-term effects of Rio de Janeiro’s slum upgrading, a key policy instrument of municipal housing since the 1990s, and an essential reference for housing initiatives worldwide. From a theoretical stance, this paper builds on the Political Sociology of Public Policy Instruments (PPI) and actor–network theory (ANT). The paper argues that Rio’s slum upgrading instrumentation, that is, its constitution and use, has been key to the various housing policy oscillations over the past three decades. It also contends that this instrumentation contributed to the depoliticization of the municipal housing policy through the fostering of a ‘community of practice’ centred on slum upgrading, formed by a wide range of state and non-sate actors, and based on a technical rationality. This community and its practices have weakened the political control over Rio’s housing policy in the past decades.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that contributed to improving this paper. The author would also like to thank Keith Jacobs and Kathleen Flanagan for their valuable suggestions and support during the review process. Finally, the author would like to thank Jorge Fiori that supervised the PhD research that underpins this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 This knowledge about favela upgrading was linked to a broader process of knowledge production about favelas in previous decades. For more information see Valladares (Citation2006).
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Hector Becerril
Hector Becerril completed his PhD at UCL in 2015. He is currently a CONACYT Research Fellow commissioned at the Autonomous University of Guerrero to conduct research on housing, urban development and disaster risk.