Punitive selectivity, racism and over-incarceration in Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze racism and social inequality as foundations of over-incarceration in Brazil. The first section discusses the relationship between punitive selectivity and structural racism from a historical perspective. This is followed by an analysis of the relationship between the downgrading of the population's living conditions through the process of neoliberal counter-reforms and the increase in incarceration and naturalization of dehumanizing practices in the prison environment. The third section presents notes on the increase in female incarceration in Brazil for the crime of drug trafficking. The final remarks highlight that, in the neoliberal phase of capitalism, the structural racism that permeates the criminal justice system finds renewed arguments in the “war on drugs”, to legitimize the over-imprisonment of women, poor and black women in particular. The results indicate that the selective criminal logic reiterates the conditions of oppression from the perspective of gender. Women are doubly punished: by the criminal justice system and by the conservative morality that underpin patriarchal oppression. The method used in the analysis is the materialist-dialectic. From the perspective of social totality, we aim to capture the complex and multiple determinations that constitute the object of study. The research methodology is based on literature and document reviews.