The "Good Citizen" and the Others: An Analysis of Criminalization Processes in Rio De Janeiro (Brazil)

This communication analyzes cases of human rights violations perpetrated by armed state agents on duty. Based on a set of surveys carried out in Rio de Janeiro between 2004 and 2024, I address the issue of institutional violence from the perspective of the political collectives directly affected: mothers and relatives of fatal victims of police operations in favelas and urban peripheries. Cases of summary executions and massacres show concrete elements of the process of criminalizing racialized populations by updating technologies for controlling bodies and territories. This process of criminalization brings the figure of the "good citizen" as deserving of rights guarantees, as opposed to the "others" historically constructed as potential criminals. The analysis undertaken here involves participant observation, in-depth interviews, analysis of police inquiries and court cases, as well as analysis of the archives of the victims' families.