É permitido proibir: a práxis sonora da pacificação

Abstract

The article reflects upon the impact of the so-called Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) in favela areas of Rio de Janeiro, and in particular on musical practices and events, in a specific set of favelas, Maré. To that end, as well as their related public relates an analysis of a selected literature to that of the results fieldwork with MCs, DJs and event producers, before and after the beginnings of the military occupation of Maré aimed at the establishment of an UPP in the area. It concludes that, following a long-standing tendency towards clientelism and assistencialism overshadowing patterns of authoritarianism, alienation, and exermination of sectors perceived as vulnerable of an unequal society, the referred public policy either reproduces or reinforces cultural stereotypes associated with the 'dangerous' classes, and opens ways to exception "laws" around musical practices, harming the most basic democratic foundations of a constitutional State.