The document summarizes the history and development of favelas (slums) in Rio de Janeiro from the late 19th century through the 1980s. It describes how freed slaves first began informally occupying hillside areas that lacked infrastructure and housing. Over time, as more people moved in, living conditions became more cramped and dangerous. The roles of women and men are discussed, with women having homemaker roles and little rights, while many men engaged in informal and dangerous work. Education levels remained low, especially in slums, and religion was predominantly Christianity. Crime increased with the rise of drug gangs and police corruption.

1. City of God
The Setting

2. History of the favelas
• The development of Rio’s favelas is linked to the end of the slavery, in the late 19th century.
Landless and unemployed, many of the freed slaves moved to Rio de Janeiro, at that time Brazil’s
capital. The large number of families seeking housing and employment led to the informal
occupation of areas that had little value, were difficult to access, and lacked urban infrastructure.
• Having no other options for housing, the homeless were forced to build their own homes. They
began to move to the central hills of Providencia and santo Antonio in 1893, then to Morro dos
Telegrafos and Mangueira in 1900.
• During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the young and jobless lived alongside families and the elderly.
The poor quality of living standards, lack of space and privacy would have had a massive impact on
the quality of life for the residents. During these three decades, there were significant changes in
the living conditions within the slums, as more people moved in and families grew, causing the
living space to become more cramped, pressured and dangerous. There were also mass changes in
social behaviour, with people moving on from just stealing and petty crime to drug dealing and all-
out gang warfare.
•

3. Men and Women During the 1960s to
1980s
• WOMEN: During the social development of the favelas
from the 1960s to 1980s, women were seen as inferior to men
and objectified. Women's roles within the favela are
extremely stereotypical of this particular time period, the
roles are very home orientated such as cooking, cleaning and
taking care of the young. Women had very little rights during
this period as their societal roles in Brazil were heavily
impacted by the patriarchal traditions of Iberian culture,
which holds women subordinate to men in famailial and
community relationships.

4. Roles of Men:
• As Brazil is part of the Iberian Peninsula, male
dominance brings authority and strength
within the culture of Brazil. More specifically
to the favelas, informal jobs are predomitaly
85% male orientated showing their
dominance within the community. Even at
young ages, boys in the favelas are more likely
to earn money than girls. However, this more
than often is through the drug and gun trade.

5. Education System
• In 1872 only 23.4% of the free men and 13.4% of the free
women could read and write. In 1989, six decades after
independence, only 20% of the total population could read
and write. In the former colonial power, Portugal , about 80%
of the population was also still classified as illiterate. From
these figures it is clear to see how the majority of the
population in Brazil are not educated to even the basic
standards, this is because of lack of funding into the education
system by the government. More specifically linking to
poverty, children in the slums don’t have the chance to get
educated so end up starting to work from a young age, this is
not always legal work and a lot of the time extremely
dangerous such as drug and gun trafficking in the streets.

6. Place of Religion
• The dominant historic religion of Brazil was
and still is Christianity.
• Religion as recorded in 2010:
• Roman Catholic (64.6%)
• Protestantism (22.2%)
• Non religious (8%)
• Other religions (5.2%)

7. Economic Situation
• Modern day Brazil has the seventh largest
economy by nominal GDP in the world, and
seventh largest by purchasing power parity. Brazil
is one of the faster growing economies in the
world with an average annual GDP growth rate of
over 5%. The main industries in Brazil are;
Automobile industry, petrochemicals, machinery,
electronics, cement and construction, aircraft,
textiles, food and beverages, mining, consumer
durables and tourism.

8. Police and Crime
• The Policing system in Brazil from the 1960s onwards was
heavily corrupted in the favelas and slums. Brazil is in the
top 20 countries by intentional homicide rate, but most
often, crime comes from the heavy amounts of cocaine
which is imported into the country. Young members of the
community are often forced into trafficking drugs
throughout the streets of favelas were they are often
subjects of rival gang shoot outs or easy targets for the
police. During the 60s, 70s and 80s there was many cases of
police corruption were they were actually working with the
gang leaders in order to supply them with drugs and guns.
However, this occurs less in the modern society as police
officers are highly paid so they're supplied with enough
money.

9. Demographic profile of Brazil and City
of God
http://www.indexmundi.com/brazil/demographi
cs_profile.html-Brazil Demographics Profile 2014

10. The more positive side of Brazil
• 1. Brazil Beaches
• 2.Amazing Landscapes & Eco systems
• 3. cities and Towns
• 4. Brazilian People and Culture
• 5. Celebrations & Events
• 6. Brazilian Cuisine
• 7. Travel- Friendly weather
• 8.Brazil Hotels and Pousadas
• 9.Tourism is a Priority to Brazil