Mariana Cavalcanti is Associate Professor in the Sociology Department of the Institute of Social and Political Studies at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IESP/UERJ). She received her PhD in social/cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago in 2007, and has co-directed the documentary film Favela Fabril (2012, 49’). She is also founder and board member of Casa Fluminense, a civil society association aimed at deepening democracy and reducing inequalities in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro.