Violence of datafication: the colonial logic of surveillance in Law and Order Guarantee Operations (2017-2018)

• Grant number: 25/03626-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Alves Soares
• Grantee: Ana Beatriz Caetano Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The capture of the informational dimension of reality by capital manifests itself, among otherforms, in the technological architecture of surveillance, which is undergoing an acceleratedexpansion process. In this context, the phenomenon of life's datafication emerges, grounded ina dataist epistemology and ontology of a rationalist-positivist nature. Within the State, data-driven monitoring devices are gaining increasing importance, mainly due to the extension ofmilitary paradigms of omniscience to urban environments, a topic discussed in the context oftheir militarization. The expansion of surveillance artifacts aligns with a hegemonic projectaimed at maintaining the liberal order, which constitutes an inherently violent dynamicmaterialized in the State's objective of mapping bodies and territories. In this regard, it is arguedthat technological surveillance, by restricting and scrutinizing everyday life through datacollection and analysis, contributes to a contemporary reconfiguration of coloniality. Thus, thisresearch aims to understand the relationship between datafication and colonial continuities inthe context of violence perpetrated during military operations. The Armed Forces' conceptionof data-driven technologies in Guarantee of Law and Order operations carried out in Rio deJaneiro between 2017 and 2018 will be analyzed, employing a qualitative analysis of theinstitution's doctrinal documents. The research will also include a critical analysis of secondarysources, divided among the fields of decolonial theory, Critical Security Studies, and CriticalTechnology Studies, exploring the meanings of security practices, surveillance, and datacolonialism. (AU)