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In recent years, several government projects have been initiated to address another
historically marginalized group in the South Zone: the “street population” (população da rua). It
is important to note that “street population” does not refer only to the homeless. “Street
population” is used in a broader sense than “homeless,” as described to me in Brazil by Marilia
Rocha, the director of homeless programming of Social Service (Assistência Social) department
of the city of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to people without shelter, Rocha explained, the “street
population” category includes anyone who makes a living from the streets, such as homeless
men, prostitutes, and “street kids” (meninos da rua) who typically come to the South Zone from
the periphery of the city on weekends to beg for money before returning home (Interview by
author, 7/30/04).
Here I examine three different projects that seek to remove the street population from
Copacabana’s beach, parks and plazas: Zona Sul Legal, Vem Pra Casa, and Projeto Acolher.
Zona Sul Legal ended in December 2003, but the other two projects and campaigns are currently
in operation. All of the information about these projects I gleaned from interviews conducted
with government and non-government organization (NGO) representatives in July and August
2004. I argue that to varying extents these three projects all demonstrate government techniques
of social control and exclusion. Zona Sul Legal was primarily a policing project to remove
homeless people from the streets with little or no explicit goal of rehabilitation and represents the
harshest example of social control. Vem Pra Casa is explicitly couched in human-rights based
language, yet demonstrates clear business motives of the hotel industry. And, lastly, Projeto
Acolher is the most “humane” of the three, stressing rehabilitation, job training and substance
abuse treatment programs. Nonetheless, this project also represents a government effort to
remove a group deemed dangerous and unwanted from a tourist area.
Convention