A Tale of Urban Violence in Brazil. The Case of Marielle Franco

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the first months of the federal intervention in the state of Rio de Janeiro introduced by presidential decree on the 16th of February 2018. The security crisis in the state, which started in 2017 and gained significant media coverage, led to Michel Temer’s decision to put the Armed Forces in charge of public security, for the first time since the country’s redemocratization. Deemed controversial since its announcement in February, the measure was further questioned after the assassination of Marielle Franco, city councilor of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro known for her fierce opposition to the military intervention. The paper examines whether the dysfunctionality of the Brazilian state in the sphere of public security can be tackled by hardline policies such as the federal intervention and questions the validity of this measure in the given context. It claims that harsh security policies are inefficient in combating violence in Brazil and stresses that the dominating discourse on crime and violence, which contributes to the public opinion’s support of counterproductive hardline measures, requires a redefinition.