From Urban Violence to War: Rethinking Violent Sociability

Abstract

The paper reflects on the violent conflicts in Rio de Janeiro, in dialogue with Machado da Silva’s works. It argues that the “war metaphor” has been replacing the representation of urban violence, promoting the incorporation of violent sociability into the institutional-legal order. The article proposes an extension of the violent sociability concept to account for the formation of radical and hostile alterities by collective actors that adopt the rhetoric of war and peace. Finally, the text highlights the author’s critique of the “dominant interpretation” of violence and supports the need for formulating new analytical perspectives in the face of the actual circumstances.