Punishment, prisons and inequality in Brazil: a perspective from the Global South

• In Event: PWG - International approaches to punishment, governance, and reform

Abstract

This presentation provides a general discussion about the relationship between punishment and inequality in the Brazilian context. The discussions in the Sociology of Punishment have identified a form of punitive will that dominates contemporary societies and the concept of a “punitive turn” have been central to debates in recent decades. However, the majority of diagnoses and studies in the area remain based on theories and research that are restricted to national or regional contexts in North America and Western Europe. This discussion seeks to contribute to the contemporary debates with new perspectives of the so-called Global South that could enrich existing theories and improve future attempts at critical analysis. It presents a descriptive account of the ways in which social inequalities are indissolubly interlinked with criminal justice and punitive dynamics, both in historical and contemporary time in Brazil, according to the bibliography produced by Brazilian researchers. More specifically, it analyzes empirically the penal situation in São Paulo - state with the largest prison population in the country – through a variety of sources on the penitentiary system and socioeconomic data between the years 2000 and 2024. The information focuses on the analysis of the impact of punishment in the lives of individuals and social dynamics of municipalities, and allows a problematization of its causes and consequences in society. In addition, the data are aggregated on a public online platform, such as to question both the transparency and quality of statistics on imprisonment in Brazil and the unfolding of these characteristics in the diagnosis and formulation of criminal policies. In short, the objective of this work is to problematize the diagnoses of the punitive turn and the advance of punitivism, taking into account the specificities of the Brazilian context.

Authors

• Marcos César Alvarez, University of São Paulo

• Paula Rodriguez Ballesteros, University of São Paulo

• Lucas e Silva Batista Pilau, University of São Paulo

• Maiara Corrêa, Center for the Studies Of Violence, University of São Paulo (NEV-USP)

• Jade Gonçalves Roque, University of São Paulo