This book analyses the struggle for social justice in São Paulo, Brazil. It takes the wave of protests that began in the city in 2013 as a starting point, and grounds them in the history of social movement mobilisation in urban Brazil. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with a federation of housing movements, this work demonstrates the ongoing relevance of the concept of the right to the city for social movements of the urban poor, and examines these movements' creative interpretation of national legislation to support their claims for housing and urban citizenship.

Engages with current debates among policy makers about inequality and the efficacy of economic growth in poorer countries Provides the historical and theoretical background to the demands made during the 2013 protests in Brazil Presents research conducted during a year of ethnographic fieldwork with one federation of housing movements in 2007, and new material gathered in 2014

Autorentext

Lucy Earle is an adviser for the UK's Department for International Development. Prior to this appointment, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town, South Africa researching access to land and housing in Maputo, Mozambique. Dr. Earle has worked as an international consultant on urban development issues, and undertook her doctoral studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.

Inhalt

1. Introduction .- 2. Housing, Citizenship and the Right to the City .- 3. São Paulo: The Illegal City .- 4. Social Movements in Brazil: Democratisation and Politicisation .- 5. Fronting Up to the State: Constructing A 'Politics of Rights' .- 6. The Limits to Institutional Engagement: Negotiating Housing Policy the Nice Way .- 7. Occupying the City .- 8. Transgressive Citizenship.