Consumption, inclusion and segregation: reflections on Internet cafés and a commentary on rolezinhos

Abstract

The present article will discuss the inclusion from the perspective of the consumption, thinking about contemporary issues, especially in the field of the youth. Introducing the Internet cafés and rolezinhos as analyzers, we will question the consumption in today’s society, constructing a theoretical overview of the theme. Based on ethnographic researches developed in favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the present text brings to the reader an academic reflection on the place that the outskirts have occupied in a globalized society with advanced capitalism. The look on the Internet cafés of Acari, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Marta, South Zone of the “Marvelous City”, is deepened with the discussion of the rolezinhos in São Paulo and their impacts. The thresholds between inclusion and segregation are discussed from the perspective of consumption, reflecting on the speeches of incorporation of the popular classes, the supposed democratization of access to certain goods and services and the intensification of limits and borders that demarcate the distinction of classes.