Violence under dispute

crime, discipline and revenge operations in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

A substantial body of scholarship has examined how violence circulates across Latin American cities. However, much of this work is confined to normative distinctions between state and non-state armed actors. Consequently, the unequal distribution of violence across urban spaces and the relationships between these actors are overlooked. Drawing on ethnographic research in São Paulo (Brazil) conducted from 2018 to 2024, this paper analyses a case in which a mobile phone robbery resulted in the death of an off-duty police officer. The paper focuses on the two immediate responses to the robbery: the disciplinary action taken by the criminal organisation Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the retaliatory operation launched by the São Paulo Military Police within the favela. I argue that, although multiple actors — the young robbers, the police seeking retaliation and the PCC members seeking to restore order — mobilise violence as a resource, their actions have unequal implications in terms of power. Ultimately, the capacity to not only exercise violence, but also to regulate its use, emerges as a central element in the constitution of power regimes in urban poor territories.