A World Without Hunger: Josué de Castro and the History of Geography by Archie Davies (review)

Abstract

be transformed into different kinds of places when they are appropriated for performance, as in the case of punk/hardcore bands. When this happens, the streets are “punkerized” by performances, subversions, behaviors, musicality, and ways of being in space. This transforms the functional territories of the streets into places—and here the arts in cities emerge as power, as escape valves, as everyday playfulness in and with the city. For people from the peripheries of Brazilian cities, who live in quebradas or favelas, it is very common for the street to be the extension of the house, not least because the houses are small spaces, usually with many inhabitants. In other words, life takes place at home and on the street. Going into the streets also becomes a matter of survival, as with the jobs of many young punk/hardcore fans who work making deliveries. The book sheds light on the different musical scenes that are part of contemporary Brazilian reality, pointing out challenges and contradictions that have yet to be overcome. This understanding of other dimensions goes beyond tourism and heritage in the four cities in this study. The author’s thesis serves as ammunition for the fight against injustice in cities, which is characterized by multiple disputes, and that reverberates in the unequal conditions of movement. Urbanities without disputes are lifeless urbanities. And the book demonstrates that there are disputes all the time, and that the manifestations of these disputes are a revealing part of our everyday experience.