Entre becos e ringues: luvas que se prendem, vidas que se libertam

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the dynamics through which ex-prisoners and young people living in the city's favelas, vulnerable to marginalization, can establish social reintegration, and in the case of ex-employees, (re)socialization, through the sport of boxing. The context of urban violence in Rio de Janeiro is intrinsically linked to the so-called "war on drugs" and the process of criminalization of poverty, resulting in a necropolitical system that perpetuates the exclusion and marginalization of certain social groups, especially black and poor people. This "war" strengthened repressive practices and punitive selectivity, contributing to the mass incarceration of these groups. In this research, an analysis was carried out through observant participation, examining the trajectories of boxing teachers engaged in social projects focused on this sporting practice in Rio's favelas. We explore how boxing not only offers a leisure and physical activity, but also serves as a means of valuing epistemic models, rescuing subjectivity and building community ties based on horizontality, thus contributing to social transformation within these historically marginalized communities.