Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Suska, Marta-Laura

Titel

Global Uniformities versus Local Complexities: A Comparative Ethnography of Two Policing Programs in Rio De Janeiro and Recife, Brazil

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

• ProQuest

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The relationship between the police and the public is commonly seen as a major indicator for a healthy democracy. This dissertation examines the relationship of police officers with each other, underprivileged populations, and criminal groups in two of the most violent cities in the world, Rio de Janeiro and Recife, Brazil. Taking the cases of the Police Pacification Unit of Rio de Janeiro and the Pact for Life in Recife, I use the concept of "democratic policing" to discuss the implementation of westernized policing templates. My primary questions, then, are the following: What discourses and practices accompany Western ideas of democratic policing and human rights as they are implemented in other sites? How are models of policing interpreted on the ground, both by the police and by citizens? Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted intermittently from 2009 to 2015, I argue that there is a disconnect between Western models of law enforcement and the contexts in which they are replicated in the Global South, leading to unintended transformations. Rio's police deal with armed and highly organized drug traffickers, while police in Recife focus on homicidal violence that is largely out of the public eye. In addition, police officers in Rio are deadly enemies in favelas, while in Recife police are often residents of favelas. In both cities, segregation along class and race within the police institution leads to officers feeling disenfranchised and dissatisfied about state institutions and policies. This disconnect from state-imposed values and policies impacts day-to-day policing and promotes acts that are deemed illegal but not illegitimate. Favela residents, on the other hand, experienced "democratic policing" primarily as gentrification, especially in Rio. Ultimately, this study shows that community policing efforts face unique difficulties in societies that are marked by extreme degrees of inequality, political corruption, and violence. Conceptions of "democratic policing" as conceived in the West do not translate neatly to the Brazilian context. People's understandings of democracy, human rights, and legitimate policing vary substantially according to class, residence and specific cultural norms, even across one nation.