Who Are and How Do Members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office Define Themselves: An Analysis of Santa Catarina’s Case

Abstract

This article examines the conflicts surrounding the classification and declassification of the prosecutorial profession by analyzing the positions taken by members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The analysis draws on the explanatory power of individual representations and positions shaped by specific social and historical conditions. It focuses on the disputes over the legitimate representation of Santa Catarina Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO), aiming to understand the dynamics of institutionalization and the homogenization of socially structured classificatory practices, as well as the tendency toward the reproduction of members’ social origins. A diverse set of empirical sources were used to grasp the historical transformations experienced by the institution from the final decades of the 20th century and during the 30 years following Brazil’s 1988 Federal Constitution. The findings suggest that the configurations underpinning the system of legitimate representations of the prosecutor’s office and the uses of law are rooted in dispositions that reflect and reinforce the hierarchical structure of the social world.

Key-words
Public Prosecutor’s Office; Political sociology; law sociology; uses of the law; legal elites