Public (in)security: cartography of

Subtitle:Public (in)security: cartography of relations between surveillance devices, public policies and violence in contemporary urban spaces

This study discusses the association between surveillance devices and public security production devices, producing (in)security as a result of multiple elements that are connected in socio-technical networks. It analyzes, therefore, some correlations between surveillance devices, practices and current concepts of public security related to crime control and prevention of violence. The high investments of public security agencies in technological surveillance devices for crime control and violent practices are the result of technical and political decisions and involve the configuration of socio-technical networks of actors, exercise of power and knowledge. The research is being conducted in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina) and Belgium (Brussels), through the method of the cartography of controversies and follows some controversies related to current conceptions of public security and the installation of surveillance devices considering the efficiency and effectiveness of their use, the release of funds or not by governments, the definition of areas to be monitored and the effects that may produce sociability and modes of subjectivity. Through the cartography of controversies, we seek to highlight actors, linkages and agencies involved in the power play, giving visibility to the associations of the actors and which are in dispute, assisting in the understanding of the contemporary practices of surveillance and construction and stabilization processes of socio-technical networks to the production of security. The study results could help in the understanding of complex and multifaceted issues that unfold in the analysis of current security agencies, demands of people moving in the analyzed urban areas, as well as the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies related to public security. The research is being conducted with postdoctoral fellowship from FAPERJ.

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