Overview

An Open Access edition of this book will be available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library. At the turn of the 21st century, the Brazilian punk and hardcore music scene joined forces with political militants to foster a new social movement that demanded the universal right to free public transportation. These groups collaborated in numerous venues and media: music shows, protests, festivals, conferences, radio stations, posters, albums, slogans, and digital and printed publications. Throughout this time, the single demand for free public transportation reconceptualized notions of urban space in Brazil and led masses of people across the country to protest. This book shows how the anti-capitalist, anti-bourgeoisie stance present in the discourse of a number of Brazilian bands that performed from the late 1990s to the beginning of the 21st century in the underground music scenes of Florianópolis and São Paulo encountered a reverberation in the rhetoric emanating from the Campaign for the Free Fare, subsequently known as the Free Fare Movement (Movimento Passe Livre, or MPL). This allowed the engaged bands and the movement for free public transportation to contribute to each other’s development. The book also includes reflections on the Bus Revolt that occurred in the northeastern city of Salvador, unveiling traces of the punk and anarcho-punk movements, and the Revolution Carnivals that occurred in the city of Belo Horizonte, an event that mixed lectures, vegetarianism, protests, soccer, and punk rock music.

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9781800856141

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Reviews

‘Distortion and Subversion is a creative experiment. The author captivates the reader’s interest while providing an accurate and engaging analysis of recent events in Brazil’s urban history. Lopes de Barros’s powerful narrative is comparable to the potency of the punk music he analyses… I believe that Rodrigo Lopes de Barros's book, which aroused so many nostalgic feelings in me, can provoke in readers the desire for better public transport in Brazil and beyond, and hope for a world without turnstiles.’ Caio Fernandes Barbosa, NACLA

‘Distortion and Subversion is a creative experiment. The author captivates the reader’s interest while providing an accurate and engaging analysis of recent events in Brazil’s urban history. Lopes de Barros’s powerful narrative is comparable to the potency of the punk music he analyses… I believe that Rodrigo Lopes de Barros's book, which aroused so many nostalgic feelings in me, can provoke in readers the desire for better public transport in Brazil and beyond, and hope for a world without turnstiles.’ Caio Fernandes Barbosa, NACLA '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… 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.' Alessandro Dozena, Journal of Latin American Geography ‘Distortion and Subversion is a worthy addition to scholarship on Brazilian social movements and on punk. As a Luso Brazilianist scholar a punk fan, I found it fascinating.’

‘Distortion and Subversion is a creative experiment. The author captivates the reader’s interest while providing an accurate and engaging analysis of recent events in Brazil’s urban history. Lopes de Barros’s powerful narrative is comparable to the potency of the punk music he analyses… I believe that Rodrigo Lopes de Barros's book, which aroused so many nostalgic feelings in me, can provoke in readers the desire for better public transport in Brazil and beyond, and hope for a world without turnstiles.’ Caio Fernandes Barbosa, NACLA '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… 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.' Alessandro Dozena, Journal of Latin American Geography

Author Information

Rodrigo Lopes de Barros is Assistant Professor of Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies at Boston University.

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