Police Lethality and Militarised Racial Control in Late Modern Brazil
摘要
This chapter explores the concept of militarised racial control, with a particular emphasis on the subcultural dynamics that underpin police actions frequently linked to human rights violations. Drawing upon bibliographical research, it employs the triadic methodology of cultural criminology in conjunction with critical scholarship from contemporary Black intellectuals to examine racist actions undertaken by militarised policing at the micro, meso, and macro levels. The analysis considers existential and phenomenological dimensions of crime, investigates subcultural processes of status negotiation, and interrogates broader frameworks such as persistent colonial power structures, ontological insecurity in late modernity, and the unique manifestations of racism in Brazil. The findings indicate that military police officers engage in behaviours—performed both privately and publicly—that perpetuate a colonial racial order and violate human rights, while simultaneously reconstructing their self-perception and reinforcing group identity. These mechanisms allow individuals within such groups to rationalise their actions as necessary or even heroic. By framing violence as a moral imperative aligned with their duties, police officers further entrench a narrative that divorces them from the repercussions of their conduct.