University of Florida Thesis Or
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
EXPERIENCING POLICING IN SÃO PAULO AND LOS ANGELES: CONSTRUCTING RACIAL IDENTITIES, SPACE, AND SECOND-CLASS CITIZENSHIP By J. SEBASTIAN SCLOFSKY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 © 2018 J. Sebastián Sclofsky To my parents, Pedro and Alicia. To Adi, Itay, and Ilai. And to all the victims of state violence. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not have been possible without the support and friendship of many people and institutions. First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Philip Williams, Michael Bernhard, Daniel O’Neill, Carlos Suárez-Carrasquillo, and Ieva Jusionyte. For their guidance, their intellectual and personal support, for helping me through tough times, and for believing in me and my project, I will always be indebted and grateful. I would like to acknowledge the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida for their support through these years in Anderson Hall. In particular, I want to thank Sue Lawless-Yanchisin for all her assistance and help, and more important for being like a mother to all of us. I would like to recognize Aida Hozic, Ido Oren, Dan Smith and Michael Martinez for their support too. This dissertation would not have been possible without the financial support from the University of Florida Graduate School, College of Liberal Arts and Science, Center for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Political Science, which allowed me to conduct my fieldwork in Los Angeles and São Paulo. I want to thank the Latino Fund from the American Political Science Association for their financial support too. I am grateful to the Law, Crime and Governance in the Americas Workshop at the Center for Latin American Studies, which provided a forum to present my work and learn from many colleagues addressing similar research projects from different disciplines. I want to thank anthropologists Ieva Jusionyte and Richard Kernaghan for teaching me how to navigate the difficulties of conducting fieldwork in complex and violent contexts. 4 Many of my colleagues in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida have been extremely helpful throughout the years. In particular my classmate Kevin Baron, who introduced me to his family in Southern California and made my stay in Los Angeles possible. I want to also thank Alec Dinnin, for his friendship, assistance, and his constant encouragement. Many thanks to Chesney McOmber, Dan Eizenga, Dragana Svraka, Mamdou Bodian, Lina Bendabdallah, Oumar Ba, and Ross Cotton. Two colleagues of mine have been very important for me throughout these years. I want to thank Kevin “el Jefe” Funk for his support, his encouragement, and more important for his friendship. Kevin’s integrity and ideals have taught me to stand strong by my principles and to keep fighting to make our society a better place. My family and I will always be grateful to call you, Maca, and Leo our friends; without doubt this has been one of the most important achievements during our stay here in Gainesville. I want to also thank Mauro Caraccioli for his unconditional support, for his constant optimism, and for making me believe that there is hope in academia. My family and I are also proud and happy to call you, Vane, and Celeste our friends. I want to thank Graduate Assistant United, my union, for all their support during my stay at the University of Florida. To all its members and officers, in particular, John Hames, Mary Roca, Lia Meriavaki, Taylor Polvadore, Alec Dinnin, and all other union leaders throughout these years. It has been a privilege and an honor to serve as an officer with you. I would like to acknowledge my colleagues from the Law and Society Association, in particular those working on Critical Police Studies. A special thanks to Danny Gascón for opening the doors to the world of law and society, for introducing me 5 to wonderful people, and more important for becoming a friend. I also want to thank Aaron Roussell, Kate Henne, Andy Baer, Matthew Shaw, Daanika Gordon, Analicia Mejia, Melissa Guzman, Patrick Lopez-Aguado, and Xavier Perez. In Los Angeles, I want to thank Sue and Bryon Baron for welcoming me to their house and their hearts. They were kind enough to have me as their adoptive son during the time I spent conducting fieldwork in Los Angeles. I miss the conversations after a long day of interviews in South L.A., watching the Daily Show, and learning from your experience in the city. I will always be grateful for your kindness and love. Also in Los Angeles, I want to thank Sahra Sulaiman and Misty Wilks for guiding me, introducing me to the people and streets of South L.A., for teaching me how to navigate the different neighborhoods, and more important for making me love South L.A. Many thanks to Marie-Alisse, Adela Barajas, Gilbert Radillo, Mark Anthony from Dignity and Power, Unai Montes-Irueste, Community Coalition President Alberto Retana, and the Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Council for sharing your stories, experience and knowledge. To LAPD officers Sunny Sajasima, Keith Linton, Capt. Jorge Rodriguez, and Sgt. Emada Tingirides, as well as many other anonymous police officers, who took me on rides along, shared their stories, insights, and experiences about South L.A. Finally, I want to specially thank the many anonymous residents of South L.A. who opened their hearts and were kind enough to share their life-stories with me. You are the main characters in this work, I hope I have honored your stories and that of your loved ones. While, as promised, I have kept your identities secret, you are not anonymous to me. 6 In São Paulo, I want to acknowledge first and foremost Patty Liberman and Angel Dachs for allowing me to stay at their house throughout the time I spent conducting fieldwork in the city. We have been friends for many years, and while being away from my family was very hard, living with you made it much easier. I will always be indebted for your kindness and generosity. In São Paulo too, I want to thank Douglas Silva for his help, guidance, and friendship. Without Douglas’s help I would not have been able to conduct my fieldwork in São Paulo and this dissertation would not have been possible, so thank you. A special thanks to my comrades Sheila Stanquieri and Clodoaldo Azevedo. I want to acknowledge Ana Paula Costa, Samara Vitoria, Josiane Santos, Prof. Tiago Matheus, Camila Nunes, Associação Santos Mártires in Jardim Ângela, Escola Afiz Gebrara in Capão Redondo, Samira Bueno from the Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, Daniela Skromov and Wil from São Paulo’s Public Defense Attorney’s Office, and the office of the Military Police Ombudsman, for sharing their knowledge and experience with me. To all the Military Police officers who agreed to be interviewed for this work, many thanks. Finally, as in Los Angeles, I want to acknowledge all the anonymous residents of São Paulo’s periphery, who opened their hearts and shared their stories and those of their loved ones. I hope I have honored your stories and those of your loved ones, and while, as promised, I kept your identities secret, you are not anonymous to me. Living far away from Uruguay for so long has not been easy. Therefore, I want to thank the maestro Óscar Washington Tabárez, for his work in Uruguay, for reminding me the character and greatness of this small country lost in a small corner of the 7 American continent, and for making it easier to live all these years abroad. The “¡Uruguay nomá!” has given me the strength to keep going, gracias maestro. In Uruguay too, I want to thank Gabriel “Pote” Korytnicki and Martín Hodara for their friendship and support throughout the years. Finally, I want to thank my parents, Pedro and Alicia, for their unconditional love, their constant support, for believing in me, and for encouraging me to pursue my dreams, as crazy as they may have been. For teaching me what justice really means, and that all the money in the world is not worthwhile as long as others are suffering. I hope I have made you proud. To my sisters, Sandra and Patricia, for their love, support, and encouragement, and for always being there. To my brothers-in-law, Ignacio and Daniel, for their support and love, and for being parents to Vicky, Lalo, and Guille, the best nephews in the world. To my two boys, Itay and Ilai, thank you. Spending so much time working in this dissertation has taken time away from being with you and I am sorry for that. Despite being so young, the two of you have shown patience, and have given me the time and strength to work on this project. More important, your love has been the fuel that allowed me to move forward. None of this would have been possible without the constant support, encouragement, love, and optimism of my wife, Adi. There are no words to describe the sacrifices you have made so I could write this dissertation. I love you and thank you. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. 11 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 14 The Penal State and the Expansion of Police Powers .............................................. 17 The Political Development of the Penal State ..................................................... 19 The Expansion of Police Powers ......................................................................... 22 The Export of the Penal State to Latin America .................................................. 25 The Penal State, Mass Incarceration, and Policing Literature: Contributions and Shortcomings ..........................................................................................................