Youth Gang Members in Rio de Janeiro: The Face of a 'Lost Generation' in an Age of Fear and Mistrust

This article analyses the relationship between stigmatisation, violence and marginality, and its limits to social justice and citizenship. It involves a critical reflection on the way groups living in 'a social and symbolical shade' are represented and treated by governments and their institutions, and the way such practices reinforce a cycle of socio-symbolical marginality and the limits to life in the city. The article will explore the findings of a research within drug gangs in which I have been involved (Observatorio de Favelas, 2006; Silva et al., 2009 and, Silva and Urani, 2002), and my own research on violence, urban marginality and stigmatisation (Fernandes, 2009, 2012).