Carceral geographies of incapacitation and permanent temporariness: entanglements between homelessness and the circuitry of Pretrial Detention Centers in São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/17934-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Amelia Luisa Damiani
• Grantee: Ariel Machado Godinho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to investigate the formation of the circuitry of Pretrial Detention Centers (CDPs) within the context of prison expansion in São Paulo and the circulation driven by the dispositive of pretrial detention, which connects the experiences of incarceration and homelessness. The carceral geography of São Paulo has been characterized by policies aimed at expanding and decentralizing prisons, particularly following the 1992 massacre and the partial deactivation of the Carandiru prison complex. However, there has been less emphasis on the contemporary formation of an extensive circuitry of CDPs in the São Paulo metropolitan area since the 2000s. We hypothesize that the urban-metropolitan scale allows us to question Northern-based interpretations of mass incarceration that are centered on confinement and informed by the incapacitation paradigm. This approach aims to highlight incarceration-especially of a procedural or provisional nature-as a means of reproducing permanent temporariness, a strucutral dimension of critical urbanization regarding homelessness. The investigation aims to explore the circulation driven by the dispositive of pretrial detention as captured by the circuitry of CDPs, as well as the intersection of incarceration with spaces of homelessness containment, including shelters, occupations, tenements, policing dynamics, urban maintenance, and social programs, with a particular focus on downtown São Paulo.