Kashyap Sushmita

Master MITRA Parcours 1

18 June 2014
Mapping their City: Youth in Affective Spaces
Abstract/Prologue:
This study uses perspectives from human geography, cultural and visual studies to provide a
multilayered analysis of young people residing in primarily working place neighbourhoods (faveas) of
Rio de Janeiro. As its central theoretical focus, the study draws from theories related to space and
place, and an interest in alternative media practices engaging with affect, emotion and spatial relations.
Tentatively entitled, Mappin! their "ity# $outh in Affective Spaces% this workinprogress is a step
towards an entr&e into a better understanding of the overlapping roles played by differential spaces,
medias and affective mappings as representational tropes of popular urban neighbourhoods. !t is
important to highlight that the focus of this study is the favea youth with some education, and training
in community media reporting, working on aspects related to faveas and peripheries.
Introduction:
Recent years have witnessed a profound metamorphosis in "ra#ilian society, especially in
(tourist) cities like Rio de Janeiro
$
with their rapid urbani#ation. The hypermediated bid of
the civic authorities to transform Rio into a world class city ahead of the %!%A &orld 'up this
summer (June $(, ()$*) and the +lympic ,ames in ()$- has affected the lives of its
residents, especially the impressionist youth from the peripheries and defavourised
neighbourhoods, who find their evolving identities mirrored in this transforming city. .y
paper attempts to record the contours of a new spatial cultural studies through the narratives
of favea youth engaged in alternative media, through their spatial mappings and affective
engagements with forms of alternative media (primarily focusing on community media) in
this liminal moment of urban transformation.
!t is no debate that there is a certain amount of stigma related to mainstream media
representations of faveas as dens of violence, crime, drugs and the suspicious. /erceptions
from outside the faveas often typecast the young favea'o in a popular mysterious image of
music loving
(
vagabonds involved in petty thefts, resistant towards civic authorities.
0owever, in the process, these stereotyped narratives have successfully managed in otherin!
the favea youth, giving her a sense of being a second class citi#en in her own city,
accentuating the need to address herself vis1vis her neighbourhood and community. +n the
other hand, lesser visibility is accorded to media reports with a focus on the everyday realities
of home, school, work opportunities faced by these youth2 their dreams affected in notso
accessible (or, ordinary) neighbourhoods, comprising of fragile communities compelled by
simultaneous globalising forces of the economy and processes of marginalisation and
e3clusion. According to Jailson de 4ou#a e 4ilva
5
,
6The popuation of 1()to)24)year)o's in Rio 'e Janeiro*s metropoitan area is on the or'er of 1+8
1
%or practical purposes, Rio de Janeiro will be henceforth referred to as Rio.
2
.usic, mostly of the fun, variety. -un, is a genre of music that traces its history to the faveas of Rio.
5
7e 4ou#a e 4ilva, J. 68ife and 4urvival in Rio9s faveas:, Re'e Socia 'e Justi.a e /ireitos 0umanos (4ocial
network of ;ustice and human rights), ()$5. http<==www.social.org.br=relatorio())5ingles=relatorio)(*.htm >R8
accessed< $) 4eptember ()$5. Jailson de 4ou#a e 4ilva is a geographer and cofounder of 12servatorio 'e
-aveas% born in one of Rio?s biggest favela agglomerates% "ompe3o 'a Mar&+
miion+ Accor'in! to 1444 'ata from the 5ationa 0ousin! an' Popuation Statistics Research% 684
thousan' 7889: have not compete' primary schooin!+ 1n the other han'% 216 thousan' 7129: have
at east finishe' hi!h schoo+ As far as the ;o2 mar,et is concerne'% <18 thousan' 740+19: have =or,%
=hie 226 thousan' 712+69: are unempoye'+ Statistics from Rio 'e Janeiro*s (8 faveas
7sums>shantyto=ns: sho= that 629 of youn! peope have not compete' primary schooin!? 2arey
19 have finishe' hi!h schoo? (19 have ;o2s or are oo,in! for =or,% an' the unempoyment rate is
18+69+@
Part I. Context
+ne of the initial ideas behind this research was the aspiration for the creation of venues
forthe presentation of distinct, ofte3cluded, and @ualitative viewpoints on the city. The
ob;ectives ! pursue as part of this approach are many. !nitially, it started out as a pro;ect to
understand the urban transformations happening around the world, taking the specific case of
Rio de Janeiro. Rio is a dynamic case study as we see various aspects of this city
transformation taking place in view of the %ootball &orld 'up ()$* and the +lympics ()$-.
+n investigating further afield, my interrogations shifted from the public sphere itself, to the
popular neighbourhoods, in an attempt to present the narratives emanating from these
precarious, oftenmisunderstood communities. 4econdly, following theoretical readings, a
desire was felt to understand the transformation of space beyond binary concepts like center
periphery, asphatfavea, powerresistance, secureinsecure, blackwhite, etc.
Antering these neighbourhoods with the lens of alternative media, ! situate myself in the
faveas, and my point of view towards the city finds its departure points from this
methodological angle. The central ob;ective of my study is to understand the spatially
embedded emotional geographies in these informal cities e3isting within the formal city of
Rio de Janeiro, as also to understand contours of selfrepresentations by the popular resident
(favea'o), taking the case of the alternative media youth reporter (comprising of community
media correspondents). !t is important to mention here that my investigations look at youth
from these defavourised neighbourhoods who have a certain degree of education as my
pursuit in the Anglish academic press did not yield any substantial material on educated youth
from the faveas, their urban itineraries and their narratives.
Part II. heoritical !ra"e#or$
Botions of Cspace?, Cplace? and Clandscape? are no longer the e3clusive domain of
geographers, but have been appropriated by anthropologists, scholars of philosophy, history
and culture (cf. de 'erteau, %oucault, 0arvey, 'rang, Anderson, 4assen, 4pivak, Bayak,
"habha, 4o;a, 'astells, et a)
*
. !n trying to link up aspects of spatiality and representations, !
consulted a variety of literature and authors, and my investigations draw e3tensively upon
theoretical, conceptual and methodological insights deriving from, in particular, critical
cultural studies, cultural geography as well as media studies. "roadly ! consulted the te3ts of
these authors to accentuate and broaden my perspective on these issues<
'ritical Theorists of the city, from the %rench tradition, writing e3tensively on /aris at the
turn of the ()
th
century, primarily 0enri 8efebvre and .ichel de 'erteau. Through the
4
Readings from .anuel 'astells (linking communication theories with social movements), Adward 4o;a (real
and imagined spacesinspired by 8efebvre?s The Pro'uction of Space and "habha?s Thir'space theories), 0omi
D "habha (6hybridity:, 6thirdspace:), Anoop Bayak (6youth subcultures:), ,ayatri ' 4pivak (6subaltern
speak:), 4askia 4assen (on globali#ation and cities), Day Anderson (6emotional geographies:), .ike 'rang
(6cultural geography:, theories on space and identity), 7avid 0arvey (6right to the city:, philosophies related to
modern geography), .ichel %oucault (6heterotopias:), .ichel de 'erteau (deliberations on 6place: and
6space:), to name primary thinkers and their chaAne 'e pens&es).
writings of 8efebvre, my chief theoretical interlocutor, ! was introduced to the ideas of
psychogeography, situationism, imageability. Adward 4o;a?s Thir'space ($EE-) and e3cerpts
of 7oreen .assey?s -or Space (())F) and have been important as primary theoretical tools in
e3ploring further insurgent spaces, and to analyse this liminal moment of creation of new
spaces and possibilities in the conte3t of Rio?s faveas.
To gain insights on youth living in popular neighbourhoods, ! consulted Anoop Bayak from
the "irmingham 4chool, as also 4tuart 0all.
II.%. Spatiality and &"otional 'eography
!n recent years, the humanities and social sciences have seen a renewed interest in spatiality.
!n debates centered on identity and ethnography, concepts of space, location, ocus and place
figure prominently. 0enri 8efebvre illustrated the social production of space through his
4patial Triad ($EE$). 8ater, 4o;a, "habha, and .assey further e3plored this triectics of space
through the concept of Third4pace, arguing for a critical approach to understand cultural
identity. These scholars wanted to open the space for newer spaces of e3periencing and
e3pressing spatial ties, to make visible the interstitial spaces, the hy2ri' interactions that shape
our social processes.
! situate myself in a 6geography of actors: (AndrG $EEH) to understand representation and
agency as e3perienced in the faveas. This emotional geography emphasi#es on affect and
emotion as also on the representation of sub;ectivities
F
(AndrG $EEH2 Anderson I 4mith
())$). !f argued that social relations are lived through the emotions, we must consider that
embodied forms of knowledge can complement theory to situate human e3perience with
human reason in a holistic methodological approach.
II.(. )efebvre*s Spatial riad:
This study takes the ideas of 8efebvre, as proposed in The Pro'uction of Space ($EE$) and
Rhythmanaysis# Space% Time an' Bvery'ay Cife (())*) as its main points of departure.
Therefore, in this section, his distinction of space into a triad will be briefly elaborated. To
understand the production of space, 8efebvre challenged the dual representation of space
(D&space per.u, D&space con.u) to introduce a third ive' space (Despace v&cu). 4pace is not
;ust limited to physical and mental, but also imaginary. !n other words, space has an important
emotional dimension which especially comes into play in everyday interactions with other
people, this emotionalimaginary aspect of space is that comple3 and mythic terrain of
representations, memory, the performative repertoire of the desires that make us and our
bodily responses to our environment. 8efebvre ($EE$) argued that space is understood as
physical and social landscape which is imbued with meaning in everyday placebound social
practices and emerges through processes that operate over varying spatial and temporal scales.
Aventually called thirdspace, the third space became a new paradigm to map spacewhere
perceived and conceived spaces actually meet in intersub;ective encounters and in the realm
of imagination, often animated by cultural mores, arts and literature. This thirdspace is the
6beyond: where the abstract and the concrete etc. both find e3pression in pay, in a
performative sub;ectivity.
5
To emphasise the new geography which studies the represention of sub;ectivities, the 6Je: (!) that is the base of
any representation, ! @uote a reference from AndrG, E 7F: Dacteur construisant De3p&rience sociae comme
&tant son e3perience+ "Dest ui Gui &ta2it un principe 'Dautonomie% reven'iGu&% pus souvent Gue reais& H
(7ubet, $EE*, p. $H*) (citG par AndrG, $EEH, p. *H).
Part III. Methodology
The four primary methods utili#ed were participant observation, semistructured interviews
and informal conversations, photography and mental mapping
-
. The actual field engagement
was undertaken between the months of August to 7ecember ()$5 in Rio de Janeiro, during
which ! established contacts with some alternative media hubs in Rio, learnt /ortuguese on
the go for facilitating communication, and volunteered with Iiva -avea. "reaking the ice to
engage in participant observation was not without its challenges, given the terrain of the
research. %or instance, the first engagements at participatory observation could not be
sustained due to a spate of open fire between police and gangs in the neighbourhood of
"ompe3o 'a Mar&.
Twelve semistructured interviews with young alternative media ;ournalists, aged $F to (E,
along with a collection of documentary photographs produced by me during field visits were
analy#ed. To represent and understand the spatial tra;ectories of the sub;ects, $) affective
maps were reali#ed and were analysed and incorporated in this study. %or a focused analysis
in this thesis, finally F main interviews and 5 maps have been retained and @uoted from.
"y taking a refle3ive ethnographic approach
J
supplemented by a visual methodology this
pro;ect seeks to provide a richer picture of how young spatial identities in a rapidly urbani#ing
city are formulated, enacted and contested.
III.%. Affective Mapping and Photography:
'ultural studies have taught us to see maps and images as interpretations and as ways to
create and enforce a vision of the world. Aspecially for the study of emotions, this approach
opens up possibilities of accessing the way actors e3perienced and emotionally related to
spaces. The use of affective maps enabled me to represent aspects of (self) representation,
spatialities and belonging. The official city maps ! carried in my interactions with the city did
not give me the sense of space, the tools to e3plore the other Rios. .ore importantly, these
maps did not seem to do ;ustice to the richness of emotions and narratives of dynamic play
that were slowly opening up to me. The interviewees were re@uested to draw their own Rio
maps, which they felt e3pressed best their everyday Rio circulations between home, work,
leisure spaces, perceptions of familiar spaces, emotional memories, etc.
The photographs, in turn, allowed me to revisit places and identify changes. Although it
cannot replace verbal communication, photography can help bridge potential language
barriers in that it adds a degree of universal understanding, ;ust as it was the case for me as a
nonfluent /ortuguese speaker working with people from all walks of life, allowing discovery
and clarification.
PA+ I,. +esults -Analysis and +eflections.
Through my immersion in the mileu, ! dsicovered that Thirdspace becomes more prominent
during liminal moments of crisis, when the the status @uo can longer be sustained, hence
applying to Rio?s moment of accelerated urbani#ation in view of the mega ,ames. !n Rio,
what we see are the enactment of this thirdspace, a new space slowly emerging out of vague
contours, from the interstitial conditions of its popular, peripheral and threshold spaces, like
faveas sites where new identities are being imagined, performed and contested. This
performativity can be seen by some as the uni@ue culture of this milieu, receiving its
6
! use the term affective mapping here as it illustrates better the aims of my study.
7
cf. "urawoy?s e3tended case method $EE$< http<==burawoy.berkeley.edu=.ethodology=A'..4T.pdf
@uintessence from the everyday interactions.
I,.%. Creation of ne# spatial representations by the popular resident -Affective space.:
The affective maps are a kind of counter representation, a valuable e3periment that helps us
understand the agency of historically stigmati#ed youth. These maps not ;ust help the non
resident to understand the young favelado more nuancedly, they subvert the tools of policy
making, and hegemonic representations of the periphery itself, allowing the popular resident
to e3press views on her community and her city. %inally, they bring a dialogue, which
recogni#es the favelado as an e@ual player (citi#en) in the emerging global city. Koung
women ;ournalists like /io, 'avalcante, .artins emerging from the favelas displayed an acute
consciousness of spatial territories that they belonged to, articulating passionately about their
ideas for their communities and for the city of Rio. .y conversations with them revealed a
consistent construction of young identities to reflect the transforming urbanscapes. !n the
process, concepts like favea as periphery is also diluting, as notions of resistence is giving
way to more participation and visibility to the erstwhile marginali#ed communities.
I,.(. /uxtaposed narratives of "ainstrea" "edia representation and alternative "edia -self
representation.:
As highlighted briefly in the beginning, mainstream media representations of the faveas often
tend to simplify identities and issues, focusing on their problemsaberrations. &hen
;u3taposed with the representations coming out from these communities themselves, we find
the young ;ournalists trying to focus on positive, cultural aspects of their habitats. The
interested involvement of these youth is changing the approach of the mainstream media in
recent years, as my interviews with cultural practitioners .ayra Juca and /rof Juaguribe
testify.
Conclusion: Through the narratives and circulations of the community ;ournalists, their
encounters and interactions in the favelas, a creation of dynamic spaces are taking place. !n
this sense, place is transformed and becomes 6practiced placeL (de 'erteau $EH*, p. $$J), and
in the process, space is produced in the most dynamic and imaginative ways possible
(8efebvre $EE$). Rio as a city is consciously opening itself to the +ther, the Thirdspace This,
according to me, can lend a new way of understanding and representing. ! call these new
possibilities of representation as Affective representations, which highlight more on the
comple3 layers of emotional personality, behavioural refle3es, and spontaneous actions linked
to our Cinner lives? or memory.
&ith the &orld 'up spotlight comes a fantastic opportunity to set the record straight on Rio9s
favelas, for ;ournalists covering the event to promote a more nuanced perception of Rio?s
faveas, which will in turn impact local policies on the ground. An inclusive representation by
practitioners of mainstream and alternate media working together can perhaps help us find
newer ways of looking at @uestions of urban identity and increasingly ine@uality. ! conclude
with more @uestions than answers like,
0ow do periods of rapid urbani#ation affect cultural productions, and social interactions between a
city?s different residentsM 0ow can one analy#e the relations between popular social movements, mega
sports events, and construction of identityM 0istorically, how deep a role does "ra#il?s media role play
in building "ra#ilian identity, and popular imageM
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