Abstract
This article discusses the new modality of governance of the poor in border territories of Brazilian cities, specifically in their favelas and peripheries. We analyze, based on research carried out in Rio de Janeiro, dynamics that, at first glance, could appear to be local: the disciplinarization of inhabitants, the commodification of their territories and the militarization of their lives through the Pacifying Police Units. We argue that these units’ local implementation is an experiment in the production of order without democratic mediations for the management of social conflicts, which has the potential to be replicated in other territories and situations, as well as in relation to other populations under the logic of "urban militarism" (Graham).
Key words:
urban militarism; favelas; peripheries; Pacifying Police Units