A lavanderia comunitária do morro do Borel e o debate sobre racismo ambiental e lutas comunitárias em contextos urbanos

Abstract

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro possess a significant historical trajectory, rooted primarily in the agency, resilience, and protagonism of their residents. Life within these territories is characterized by a high degree of intelligence, wisdom, strategic organization, and grassroots movements that generate effective solutions for housing and the pursuit of rights and services aimed at fostering dignified living conditions. Initiatives originating from within the community tend to reach the favelas more rapidly and effectively, as they emerge from collective organization and mobilize a range of social actors, engaging them in struggles that seek to ensure equitable access for all. Within this context, the Community Laundry is presented as a social innovation conceived by a community leader from Morro do Borel. It was designed to serve approximately one hundred women heads of household—representing nearly one-third of the population in the Indiana sub-community—by ensuring access to clean and treated water, a universal right enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution but historically overlooked during the initial occupation of the favelas in the early 20th century. The history of the Borel Community Laundry invites critical reflection on the role of favelas as contemporary expressions of urban quilombos and as spaces that highlight both the absence of state intervention and the structural presence of environmental racism. For decades, this form of racism has shaped narratives that legitimized segregationist policies and framed favela residents as “illegal” occupants of their own territories. Through the life story of Ana Márcia—a community leader born and raised in Morro do Borel—this study offers a compelling analysis grounded in methodologies such as life history. It situates the favela itself as a central analytical site and is supported by secondary data that construct a popular narrative of how residents actively shape and lead efforts toward dignified living. The study reconfigures the timeline of these struggles to expose the persistent absence of public policy and to underscore that favela residents are not passive beneficiaries of rights, but rather active and organized claimants of justice and equity.