Public/Private Boundaries

Abstract

This chapter explores the idea of a boundary between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ and how this perceived distinction plays out in the context of high levels of violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It explores how, when discussing community issues, residents apply different terms and moral codes to different forms of violence. It also draws on the existing literature on violence, to relate interviewee perceptions to broader modes of thinking about violence, questioning the assumptions made about different forms of violence in the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres. In particular, I argue that different forms of violence should not be considered in isolation from one another, as the links and lines of influence between different forms of violence will go unrecognised.