ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to reflect on the construction of favelas as an object of historical research. Since the 1940s, disciplines in the Social Sciences have understood the importance of using history as a methodological tool to study the reality of these spaces, but the field of History was late in making favelas a more systematic object of study. This article analyzes the reasons for this delay and its implications, as well as more recent trends. Renewed historiographical debate in Brazil, with the search for new sources, such as documentary collections made up by institutions in the favelas themselves, and methods such as those provided by oral history, has given more density to the historical literature on these spaces, including, in recent years, works authored by residents themselves. By surveying historical works on favelas, this article aims to identify the epistemological consequences of this production for both urban studies and History as disciplinary fields.
Keywords
Favelas; Rio de Janeiro; Historiography; Sources; Social Sciences