Hybrid Security Regimes in Urban Brazil: Towards a Cartography of Assemblages

During the past few decades, Brazilian cities have been witnessing a profound reconfiguration of their security regimes, one which tends to outgrow established frames of analysis. Most prominently, what can be observed is a rising importance of semi- or non-state actors along with a marked internationalization of the country’s security sector. Consequently, it may be argued that, in urban contexts, the production of security has turned into a multi-scale endeavor which entails alternative – hybrid – modes of governmental access. Meanwhile, it can be assumed that these developments affect experiences of urban citizenship, as spheres of belonging shift and multiply, thus generating a corresponding range of new subjectivities. The present research project aims at combining both perspectives by tracing the “materiality” of urban security regimes: drawing upon insights from governmentality studies, assemblage/actor=network theory and political anthropology, its objective consists in mapping the dynamics at stake without falling prey to state fetishism or clinging to overly schematic oppositions such as public vs. private or local vs. global. The framework shall be tested and revised during a phase of in-depth ethnographic research, thereby contributing to a more accurate conceptualization of urban security regimes in Brazil and – possibly – other countries of the “global south”.