Police violence and organized crime in Alagoas

facts and representations

Abstract

This study results from a research conducted by the author in the region called Zona da Mata located in the north part of the state of Alagoas known for its tradition in sugar cane plantation. The aim is to understand the representations about police violence, how it is practiced in the region and its links to institutions. The research looked at feelings and thoughts of the workers from this region and emphasized the contents of their representations. Analyzing facts which occurred throughout the 1990s in the state, the research tries to comprehending the meanings which are given to them and at the same time understand them in the light of the construction of the public space and its historical private appropriation. The analysis is the result of two years of research and used interviews with sugar cane workers, rural trade union leaders, sugar mill managers, security guards, lawyers, etc., and also participant observation as ethnographic investigation.