Social Control and Racial Relations in Brazil: Old and New Affinities

There is a lasting bond in the history of Brazil between violence, social control and racial issues. However, there are analytical gaps on the new forms assumed by this link. Studies on violence tend to treat race as an attribute of the victims of crimes, and there are few analysis of racism in the police and crime control policies. Studies on racial relations mention violence against Blacks and indigenous as a key element of racial dynamics, but few studies analyse empirically the phenomenon. This paper seeks to contribute to new analytical and empirical problems in the relationship between social control and racial issue in Brazil. It brings evidence of racial inequality in the experience of violence, policing strategies and incarceration, using quantitative data. It brings also analysis of the black youth movement new agenda building and its social impact, based on qualitative data. Results point to the growth of racial inequality in recent years in the field of crime control, institutional denial of the problem, the weakness of mechanisms for social participation in security policies, the absence of viable proposals for  police reform and criminal justice.