Três faces da subcultura policial carioca

Abstract

In this thesis, using the historical comparative method and starting from a decolonial perspective, which was presented to us in the Postgraduate Program in Comparative History (PPGHC) at the Federal In this thesis, using the historical comparative method and starting from a decolonial perspective, which was presented to us in the Postgraduate Program in Comparative History (PPGHC) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), we propose to shed light on the origins of three negative aspects of the Rio de Janeiro police subculture that today constitute a serious obstacle to the consolidation of the democratic state and the rule of law in Brazil. We highlight the deleterious influence of ideologies, paradigms, doctrines, and theories of a colonialist, imperialist, and racist nature, developed in Europe and the United States, which, throughout the republican period of Brazilian history, were imported, assimilated, reworked, and systematized to adapt to the national reality by organic intellectuals in civilian academic centers or in establishments of higher military studies, to later be operationalized by the repressive apparatuses of the State. We established as our geographical focus the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, especially the city of Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of Brazil (Federal District), then the state of Guanabara, and currently the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which was, and still is, the great "laboratory" for the implementation of ideologies, paradigms, doctrines, and theories of a colonialist, imperialist, and racist nature, developed in Europe and the United States, imported and reworked in Brazil, and implemented by the repressive apparatus of the State. Over time, these have become part of the Rio de Janeiro police subculture, notably racism, militarism, and the excessive and unlawful use of lethal force, encouraged by the state apparatus itself. Considering that the work of the historian presupposes the establishment of a temporal framework, we decided to adopt the distinct form of temporal thickness termed by the French historian Fernand Braudel, "the middle time," associated with economic and social history. We delimited the republican period of Brazilian history, between 1889 and 2025. We conclude by defending the idea that, in the same way as criminal organizations, police forces that reproduce social inequality, racism, homophobia, misogyny, and disrespect for citizens' rights in their actions are also a threat to democracy. The fight against crime also needs to be correlated with key issues for democracy, such as human rights and the constitutional guarantees of citizens. In this thesis, we conducted a comparative study of the implementation of the "whitening ideology" in Brazil and Argentina and its observable consequences today; of the political phenomena known as Florianism and Bolsonarism; of militarism and military dictatorships in Latin America; and of US influence in different Latin American countries in the context of the war on drugs.