New institute to conduct research in Brazilian favelas
The NGO Central Única das Favelas (CUFA), which promotes cultural initiatives in favelas throughout Brazil for 25 years, and Favela Holding, a group of companies that work to boost development in slums, have launched the Instituto Central, which will bring together researchers from across the country to produce data on the people living in favelas.
The launch ceremony was held at CUFA’s headquarters in Complexo da Penha, a favela complex in North Rio, and was attended by the institute’s directors – Preto Zezé, Cléo Santana, and Marcus Vinícius Athayde – as well as one of CUFA’s founders, Celso Athayde.
In the view of project director Cléo Santana, Instituto Central was born out of an urgent need – to transform the territory into data, and data into real change. “We want people from the favelas to be not just objects of research, but also agents of scientific production, partners in knowledge, and co-creators of solutions.”
The institute aims to create a social intelligence and diagnostic network by integrating the work of researchers countrywide. The debut study will be an unprecedented survey of more than 10 thousand people in conflict with the law, specifically drug traffickers, in at least 24 Brazilian states over a period of 22 days. The study will not address issues related to crime or violence, but rather topics such as family, education, habits, daily life, consumption, dreams, and future prospects.
Celso Athayde invited researcher Geraldo Tadeu, a renowned authority on social studies, to join the project as technical coordinator. Tadeu noted that the only study which listened exclusively to favela residents was conducted in 2007. “We got into 101 slums in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro by telephone. It was the strategy we managed to come up with at that time to enter these territories and do research. It was unprecedented,” he said.
The aim of the current survey is to obtain a sample of 400 people per state.
“I’m sure we’ll be talking about this survey a lot, given its novel character and the courage it demands. Once we have the final report in hand, we’ll have data like [how many] doctors we lost to crime, after asking, “What would you study if you could study anything?’”
Favela Holding
In the view of Marcus Vinícius Athayde, a trained economist who now heads the institute, looking at the favelas through the lens of the market is becoming increasingly necessary.
“The Instituto Central is part of Favela Holding, which is a group of companies that work with favelas in different segments, from logistics to communication, from marketing to digital influencers – and also this study,” he said.
At the presentation of the new institute, the managers said the study aims to really understand the reality of people who get into crime.
“[The survey should not] condone crime or passing judgment, but aims to promote a humanized understanding of family, consumption, leisure, religion, choices, dreams, and daily life,” they stated.
In Celso Athayde’s view, research should not be based on preconceptions and researchers should approach the territories ready to listen.
“It is extremely sad, in fact, to hear certain accounts from children, but it’s part of their reality. Sadly, they see this reality every day, whether it’s people’s lives being interrupted by shootings in the favela, police raids, gunfire between criminals, or the daily presence of weapons in front of them all the time,” he said.
