A ward for travestis, gays, and their husbands: Discursive forces in a prison event

Authors

  • Fernando Seffner Professor no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Amilton Gustavo da Silva Passos Doutorando no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da UFRGS

Keywords:

travesti, prison, victimization, risk management, Brazil

Abstract

In 2012, the Porto Alegre Central Prison created a ward designed to house the inmate population of travestis, gays, and their husbands. Considering that the prison is an institution historically marked by a strong disciplinarian, and heteronormative bias, the purpose of this article is to analyze certain discursive forces that were articulated in an original and productive way for the emergence of the ward. We describe two prominent elements: the conflation of meaning between transvestite and victim, and the dynamics of risk management. The first concerns the discursive process of transvestite identity production, as invariably linked to a victim position, and that relation influences this subject’s process of (re)humanization, as an incarcerated life. The second describes how the prison operation and its disciplinary principles produced institutional strategies for the installation of the ward.

Author Biographies

Fernando Seffner, Professor no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Doutor em Educação, professor no no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, coordenador do Grupo de Estudos de Educação e Relações de Gênero - GEERGE

Amilton Gustavo da Silva Passos, Doutorando no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da UFRGS

Licenciado em Biologia, Mestre em Educação, Doutorando em Educação, linha de pesquisa Educação, Sexualidade e Relações de Gênero

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Published

2016-08-17

Issue

No. 23 (2016)

Section

Articles

License

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