History of police in Brazil, or, the History of a non-subject

Abstract

There is a consensus in the field of Human Sciences on the core of the police and policing for governance in the contemporary world. However, for a long time, both were treated in Brazil as a kind of a “non-subject”, as an inappropriate object for academic research. Until then, interest in the subject was more consistently noted in the publication of books produced by former police officers – usually reserve officers. These works (with an idealist, triumphalist and teleological perspective) did not deepen the understanding of the police and police work and served, much more, to praise the institution, indicating its march (linear and progressive) towards the ideal. On the other hand, few academic works carried out in the second half of the 20th century inclined to treat the police as if they were a simple agency executing policies defined by the ruling elites. However, in the last twenty years the historiographic production on the subject has become quite promising. Several researches carried out in Brazilian universities have resulted in dissertations, theses and scientific articles. It is still a small number, but promising These works, based on a new theoretical-methodological perspective, have been trying to recover, among other things, the daily dimensions of police activity and the identities constructed and/or assumed by police officers and by the institution, thus allowing a greater and better understanding of the theme. In order to give greater visibility to part of this recent historiographical production, contributing to its dissemination and, consequently, to the consolidation of a field of research, this article opens and presents the dossier “The History of Police in Brazil”, whose topics discuss various aspects of the police institution in Brazil, in different spaces and temporalities.