The law of God, the law of the State and the law of Crime

An anthropological account of the consolidation of multiple normative regimes in Brazilian urban margins

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5800560
AutoresJanaina Maldonado (0000-0002-2300-1458, Universität Hamburg, autor de correspondencia), Ana Beraldo (0000-0001-9614-9181, National University of General San Martín)
Año2024
Volumen56
Número1
Páginas33-56
Fecha de publicación2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLegal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2770-6869 • E-ISSN: 2770-6877
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/27706869.2024.2310365
OpenAlexW4391638515
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas58

In Brazil's poor urban areas, the state is not the sole producer of 'law and order' or monopoliser of the legitimate use of force. A multiplicity of authorities coexist and interact, and much of the dynamics of violence and urban order emerge from this tense interplay. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Brazilian urban peripheries, this article proposes a theoretical reflection on normative multiplicities and their relations to the dynamics of violence in contexts of sharp conflict. Two main arguments are presented: 1 - that the processes of Brazil's recent history have culminated in a specific social configuration of normative pluralism in the country's urban peripheries, where the state, religion and crime act as coexisting authorities; and 2 - that this plurality is sustained by a triple paradigm: respectability, material bases and the capacity and will to use violence. Theoretically, therefore, we have sought to develop the concept of 'normative regimes' and the triple paradigm that underpins their formation. In doing so, we hope to contribute to the social science debate on plural governance

Consolidation · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Religion and Society in Latin America