Trial By Space: The Spatial Politcs Of Citizenship And Social Movements In Urban Brazil

Abstract

This article compares two social movements in Brazil to demonstrate how movements ground citizenship claims in the spaces of everyday life. It draws on Henri Lefebvre's concept of "trial by space," showing how movements contest the way that constitutionally guaranteed citizenship rights are limited in the spaces where people live, work, and play. First, the neighborhood movement of Aurá, a poor community in Belém's periphery, grounds its citizenship claims in demands for urban services that are commonly found in wealthier neighborhoods of the city center. Second, the movement for children's and adolescents' rights—in Belém and nationally—mobilizes around the implementation of the national Statute of the Child and Adolescent. It seeks just treatment of youths through equalization of citizenship rights and practices across the dispersed spaces of the street and house.