Dietmar Klumpp examines the transformation of legal systems in Brazil through case studies from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The country exhibits nearly lawless areas in these illegally established neighborhoods. Alternative normative systems develop there, competing with or complementing the rule of law. The author analyzes the reasons for the emergence and change of alternative normative systems, defective rule of law, or hybrid legal systems, and discusses the conditions for legal transformation. In this way, his innovative study contributes to the understanding of the current Brazilian development.