The voices of Afro-Brazilian women from Parelheiros: the Internet and intersectionality

Authors

  • Ana Gabriela Godinho Lima Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil
  • Angélica Aparecida Tanus Benatti Alvim Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil
  • Jaqueline de Araujo Rodolfo Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil

Keywords:

Global South, Afro-Brazilian women, Parelheiros, Intersectionality, Internet

Abstract

This study explores the discourses of the Afro-Brazilian women of Parelheiros — one of Sao Paulo city´s most impoverished and violent neighborhoods — disseminated via Internet websites. The methodology entailed surveying websites addressing issues related to race, underserved outlying districts, gender, and problems faced by women in Parelheiros. Then we built a theoretical framework for analysis involving four main themes: intersectional feminism, Afro-Brazilian women´s voices on the Internet, the context of Parelheiros, and positioning the discussion within the framework of the Global South epistemologies. The results revealed that the dissemination of different forms of written expression via the Internet has become a tool for overcoming the so-called “silencing of the underserved outlying districts”, enabling the development of networks for solidarity, organizing of events, and the running of training and empowerment projects. Also, Afro-Brazilian women´s voices disseminated over the Internet expressed needs and aspirations, both personal and collective, which would be difficult to convey by other means. The accounts describing the way urban spaces can provide and promote – yet also hamper and impede – opportunities for these women serve to portray the ways social, economic, racial, and gender inequalities are experienced and tackled by these groups and their communities.

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Author Biographies

Ana Gabriela Godinho Lima, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil

She is an Architect and Urbanist, and Doctor in History of Education and Philosophy of Knowledge, with a Post-doctoral stage in Arts. She is an Associate Professor of the Graduate Program of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil, where she is co-responsible for the Research Project "City, Gender and Childhood". She is the author of the book "Arquitetas e arquiteturas na América Latina do século XX" (Altamira Editorial, 2013). She studies Architecture of schools, Architecture and Urbanism Teaching, History of Women in Architecture, History of Architecture in Latin America, History and Theory of Contemporary Architecture, Design Processes in Architecture, and Urbanism and Design.

Angélica Aparecida Tanus Benatti Alvim, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil

She is an Architect and Urbanist, Doctor in Architecture and Urbanism. She is a Full Professor of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil, and the Graduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism of the same institution. She is the leader of the research group Contemporary Urbanism: networks, systems and processes, where she conducts research on urban design, mobility, and environment.

Jaqueline de Araujo Rodolfo, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil

She is an Architect and Urbanist and holds a Master's degree in Architecture and Urbanism. She is a research group Contemporary Urbanism: networks, systems and processes of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil. She studies urban interventions, urbanization programs, precarious settlements, dimensions of sustainability, environment and springs in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Published

2021-12-21

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 23 (2021): V!23 References of the South

Section

Ágora