‘This is not a F avela’: Rio de Janeiro 's Urban Q uilombo S acopã and the Limits of Multiculturalism

Under B razil's 1988 C onstitution, quilombo communities have the right to the titles of the lands they occupy. This paper assesses quilombo titles' transformative potential through the experiences of R io de J aneiro's urban quilombo S acopã, an ethnic A fro‐descendant community once perceived as a favela . Unlike its neighbours, the community managed to resist the widespread favela removals of the 1970s. Based on an ethnographic approach during fieldwork conducted between D ecember 2013 and J anuary 2014, the article asks: how did S acopã manage to remain, whilst its surrounding favelas were forcefully removed? Who counts as ethnic? What does this imply for B razil's afro‐descendant majority?