SP Seminar Series - David Murakami Wood

David Murakami Wood
Associate Professor, Sociology
Canada Research Chair in Surveillance Studies
Queen’s University

The 'Shock of Order': the turn to zero tolerance policing in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is a city of extremes, but unlike in many global cities, the poorest informal settlements, the favelas, are intertwined with some of the richest neighbourhoods in South America like the fingers of a clasped hand. The problems of the favelas cannot be ignored by the wealthy, but after several years of a more progressive approach to normalising the favelas through the provision of education, health and infrastructure, a new right-wing administration has altered course with aggressive 'zero-tolerance'-style policing and new surveillance initiatives. This so-called 'shock of order' is already showing signs of returning the city to the most violent days of the 1990s. Drawing on interviews and visits with both police and community representatives conducted during three-months of fieldwork earlier this year, this talk examines the policy and practice of security and policing in a city that will soon be even more in the global eye with the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Everyone welcome!