"This is condominium, not a mess": The low income condominiuns of the PAC / PMCMV as instruments of moral cleanliness for ex-slum dwellers

Abstract

This article introduces the results of a survey on the low income condominiums used by the state and municipality of Rio de Janeiro to resettle slum residents affected by projects such as PAC and “Morar Carioca”, often using PMCMV constructions. Using an ethnographic fieldwork, I observed that the residents made a different use of the condominium type: starting from their insertion in the imaginary of the city as dwelling of the most affluent people, these new condominiums used such representation in the construction of their moral cleansing project, as a way to become disfellowshiped of the favela stigma. The search for image cleanliness did not mean abandoning "favela" practices: it is often observed behaviors and uses of spaces that contrast with the condominial model, allowing people from outside and inside to activate the term “favelado” as a category of accusation. Still to escape stigma, residents resort to three strategies of moral cleansing: readdressing stigma, customizing rules, and the aesthetics of distinction.

Keywords: Condominium; favela; stigma; moral cleansing project