Making use of the methodologies of so-called oral history, the article deals with a revolt which occurred in a small slum located on the periphery of the outlying Rio de Janeiro suburb of Duque de Caxias following the trial of two drug dealers. It then proceeds to analyse the context in which the popular revolt took place, and finally discusses the ways in which the region of Baixada Fluminense has developed demographically in recent decades, and how the means of resolving problems chosen by the local population resulted in the appearance of a new model of local political leadership.
Social invisibility; Urban violence; Citizenship
