MASS INCARCERATION AND NON-CITIZENSHIP IN GLOBALIZING BRAZIL

imprisonment as a mechanism for perpetuating/intensifying inequalities

Abstract

This study examines how the Brazilian penal and prison systems, within the neoliberal context, operate spatially as mechanisms that perpetuate and intensify ethno-racial, economic, and access-related inequalities, contributing to the production of non-citizenship. Grounded in the work of Milton Santos (1978, 1979, 1986, 1987, 2011), the research mobilizes concepts such as the technical-scientific-informational milieu, technique, citizenship, systems of objects and actions, economic and spatial circuits, spatial productivity, and the “four Brazils.” This theoretical foundation is articulated with analyses of the Brazilian prison system through studies by Gomes (2019, 2024, 2025) and literature on ethno-racial inequalities that highlight the condition of the Black population (SOUZA, 2003, 2009, 2018; NASCIMENTO, 1978), its targeting by penal-policing action (DAVIS, 2003; BORGES, 2019), and the resulting denial of citizenship. The study draws on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the National Penitentiary Department Information System (SISDEPEN) to empirically demonstrate these inequalities at national and regional scales. The analysis identifies discrepancies between the demographic profile of the incarcerated population and that of the Concentrated, Center-West, Amazonian, and Northeastern regions. Georeferenced prison data reveal patterns related to gender, age, race/color/ethnicity, education, and place of origin. Findings show that the predominant profile of incarcerated individuals (Black, young, urban men with incomplete schooling) reflects structural segregation. The spatial analyses further demonstrate that more consolidated dynamics of the technical-scientific-informational milieu correlate with greater prison disparities, and that historical territorial inequalities shape the worsening of illegalities within the prison system.