Acting of the armed forces in public security: legitimacy from the military perspective

• Grant number: 21/05090-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Marcos César Alvarez
• Grantee: Felipe Ramos Garcia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07923-7 - Center of the Study of Violence - NEV/USP, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/04676-0 - The militarization of public safety in Latin America, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Recently, we have observed an increasing role of the Armed Forces in Brazilian institutional politics. A representative number of military personnel Armed in positions in the executive, legislative and even in some advisory posts judiciary. A less attentive reading may suggest that this participation started to occur after the election of the current president, Jair Bolsonaro. However, the political performance of military forces of the Armed Forces continued after democratization, mainly in the public security. In this sense, the present work seeks, starting from a theoretical framework built on the interpretation of the political performance of the Forces Armed in Brazil historically; and the reflection that has been built in the field of sociology about the militarization of public security in Brazil, understanding that how this performance occurs and how it is perceived institutionally by the military. To this end, we will carry out an analysis - in the light of the aforementioned framework - of five military operations within national territory, within the scope of public security via Guarantee of Law and Order, between 2010 and 2018; using documents, available files and data and semi-structured interviews with senior officers, intermediaries and subordinates who acted in these operations, seeking to understand how the military perceives its own performance in these interventions and how face the task of acting in a role for which they are not trained. With this work, we seek to understand if the participation of the military is a factor of increase confidence and legitimacy in public security institutions, as well as whether the military personnel identify themselves or not with this function of legitimizing the control of violence. (AU)