Ambivalence in Controlling Births in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro

Résumé En

In Brazil, it has become essential to control the flow of populations living and moving between settlements which are considered as priority areas, in terms of urban security and development. In this context, birth control in favelas represents a major challenge to public authorities. Thus, many health care centres have been set up in recent years to support effective family planning for all. As a result, women living in these areas are influenced, more than others, by the representations of the " modern " woman, which requires them to be both " rational " and independent, as well as maternal and affectionate. Where desiring to have a child is becoming a moral sin in these areas, as it very often occurs in the absence of rational planning, this article explores the way in which women subjectify the unexpected arrival of a child in a social and professional world where more self-control, in both economic and sexual terms, is being advocated.