Three actors and engagements on the outskirts of Sao Paulo

This paper discusses the multiplicity of actors and civil engagements in the urban outskirts of São Paulo in the context of "expansion of criminal world." It points out the political actions of these actors vis-à-vis the trajectories, experiences, social relations, networks of interaction with local institutions and state, and the cultural dimensions involved. The literature of the displacements of the peripheries in the various spheres of life has discussed a context in which various organizations and people began to dispute the young, but also the family, with the crime. It is precisely in this context that has been emerging various types of engagements, grammars, codes and moralities that integrate political actions to "solve" violence. Of those who attempt to secure rights from ideals of social justice and solidarity anchored in Liberation Theology, and links with social movements and the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). Those that are founded on the pentecostal ethic of "saving lives" from the principles of Prosperity Theology, but also triggered the network of relationships with established policies, politicians and police. As well as those who have successful in social mobility, moving from the union movement to the work of leadership in community associations developed through partnerships with the state, and incorporating the technical language concerned to "safety nets" for families as a way to prevent violence. The paper deal with how public figurations of contemporary urban conflict constructs renewed forms of political action, and how social actors - in interaction with the State - try to manage territories and populations.