Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I take on 'eating' as a model for the management of social relations. I hope to offer insight into the vulnerable, fragile dimensions of agency, in a context of great social inequality, with a Rio de Janeiro favela as the ethnographic setting.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the everyday experiences of a group of youths in a Complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, and the work they invest into attaining "a vida boa", the good life, through the various sorts of alliances, networks and exchanges they seek to maintain in order to foster their aspirations. One focus is placed on bodies and bodily becomings, considering the circumstances which configure the body into an arena for self-realization, and the stakes which are at hand. I also take on 'eating', in terms of the nutritional practice that sustains us as living beings, but also as a social model for the management of social relations. These threads come together and offer insight into the vulnerable, fragile dimensions of agency, in a context of great social inequality, coupled with an unprecedented amount of violence unleashed by armed state and non - state actors.