An interesting paper, but still in Draft - Please don't quote without permission of the author
Criminal Governance and Insurgency: The Brazilian Experience
Abstract
The issue of non-state armed groups' governance has recently gained increased attention from various social science disciplines. In my paper I try to look at the territorial governance and authority of armed gangs in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro through the David Kilcullen's notion of insurgency as competition for the support of population through establishing the resilient system of control and subsequently gaining legitimacy from it. Although organized crime groups in favelas are not ideologically motivated to oppose the state as other insurgents are, their engagement in illegal activities and control of population based on „their“ territory make them armed opponents of state and de facto insurgents. In this paper I argue that their authority among favela citizens could be understood by the lack of Brazilian state institutions' capacity to ensure security and social order, which is crucial part of state „output legitimacy“ (and therefore de facto failure. The criminal groups are, on the other hand, viewed by many favela inhabitants as more capable to fulfil at least the most basic community needs. Therefore they are able to „outgovern“ the state and present an effective and in some sense legitimate alternative to its institutions.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks