Horizons of Inclusion: Life between Laws and Developments in Rio De Janeiro

In this article we explore current debates about social inclusion in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Through a comparison of two initiatives that aim to redress socio-economic segregation in Rio, we analyze the ontological position that these programs adopt towards their subjects, paying particular attention to the programs’ assumptions regarding the legal and development status of residents in informal neighborhoods. Our aim is to demonstrate how some social inclusion programs recognize and respect the diversity and life experience of marginalized subjects, whereas other nominally successful programs do not achieve such objectives. In our view, such recognition ensures that social inclusion programs become substantive avenues for justice, rather than instruments of technocratic or economic programing, or the seeds of new forms of violence.