“I want to play in peace”

the effects of the discourses produced about the favela in the daily lives of children who inhabit these territories

Abstract

Starting from Michel Foucault's studies on discourse analysis, this article problematizes the way in which discourses about the favelas of Rio de Janeiro are produced and disseminated. Since its expansion in the late 19th century, Rio's favelas have been associated with places of crime, danger and disease hotspots. Deconstructing the idea that the lack of infrastructure and the limited supply of services in these territories would be failures in the State's actions, the text discusses how the propagation of these discourses has shaped society's relationship with the favelas and their residents. As a strategy to face these processes of subjectivation, groups of favela residents have found in collective actions the strength to survive. As an example of these struggle movements, this article presents a project developed by residents of the Complexo of Favela of Manguinhos that has allowed children to give new meaning to the pain and fears caused by the constant climate of violence present in the place where they live, assuring them a space to play in peace.