This paper examines the relationships between new legal technologies and the formation of new social sensibilities. Based on ethnographic work on the implementation of restorative justice in Brazil, it seeks to understand the connection between the mechanisms for diffusing new legal models and different forms of government. The article is primarily focused on understanding a particular constellation of new legal frameworks and subjectivities in a context where the rhetoric of rights is associated with a promotion of development and 'modernity.' The paper argues that focusing attention on subjectivities is essential to understanding how these transformations are currently unfolding.
justice; subjectivity; forms of government