Flying for the very first time: mobilities, social class and environmental concerns in a Rio de Janeiro favela

Abstract

This article aims to be a contribution towards an understanding of the interplays between subjective, situated and normative justifications for traveling and the imaginary of class and global warming in Brazil. Taking as its empirical reference the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, it focuses on how people who are having the opportunity to travel by plane for the first time accommodate three interrelated issues: their willingness to experience an energy intensive way of travelling, their affective and material realities, and their awareness about the changing of the world's climate. The article concludes with some reflections on how to reintegrate global knowing with local meaning around travel and climate change.