‘ PARTICIPATION IS WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY ’: Unpacking the Meanings and Practices of Participation Addressing Mobility Justice in Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, Brazil

Abstract Participation is a topic that has been widely debated in urban studies. Despite this, we argue in this paper that policies and academic work on mobility planning have paid little attention to the meanings attached to participation and its role in mobility justice. Building on the literature on spaces for participation, Southern theories and insurgent planning, this paper shows that participation has multiple and contested meanings, particularly when addressing mobility injustices in the global South. Based on case studies in Favela Santa Marta, Rio de Janeiro, and Vila Tronco, Porto Alegre, both in Brazil, we provide evidence of alternative meanings of participation and a range of participatory practices exercised by residents with, despite, and against the state. The everyday practices that flow from and interact with these meanings uphold the freedoms to move around, thrive, and dwell, challenging mobility planning and what we call ‘authorized participatory discourse’. Our findings show that while participation with the state is only one part of the story, particularly in contexts of informality and exclusion, the state's and residents’ responses are far from monolithic. We conclude by arguing that a focus on everyday practices can add new insights to the understanding of mobility justice and insurgent planning.