Paper Short Abstract:

This article explores the political and moral implications of autoconstruction in global South cities. It challenges prevailing models of resistance and citizenship, illustrating how autoconstruction exposes working classes to a politically and morally complex environment.

Paper Abstract:

This article explores the political and moral implications of autoconstruction, a widespread practice in global South cities where residents build sociotechnical networks, housing, and infrastructure by repurposing existing equipment or using available materials and tools. Challenging prevailing trends in infrastructure studies, the article proposes moving beyond « resistance » and « citizenship » as primary models of political subjectivity in understanding autoconstruction. Based on a twenty-month ethnographic study in the precarious settlement of Jardim Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro, the article illustrates how autoconstruction exposes working classes to a politically and morally complex environment. This environment emerges from their marginalization by dominant classes and their historical struggle for domestic autonomy. It accommodates strategic behaviors, mutual aid, mobilization for urban rights, and adherence to strict moral norms. From this milieu, diverse political imaginaries arise, focusing on social justice and enhanced civic engagement, alongside others centered on order and authority, divergent from our progressive prejudice. Ethnographic analysis of urban materialities offers a concrete understanding of this complexity.