29th October 2025
Speaker: Dr Luiz Dal Santo, University of Oxford
Chaired by Professor Richard Sparks, University of Edinburgh
Abstract
This workshop presentation challenges the reproduction of dominant Northern theories by explaining how mass incarceration emerged and has persisted in Brazil – a peripheral, dependent state undergoing democratisation, economic growth, and social inclusion.
Dr Luiz Dal Santo, University of Oxford, argues that mass incarceration results from two intersecting processes: the expansion of the state and the rise of a protagonist judiciary, both operating within historically specific, structurally unequal conditions.
Combining historical-materialist and sociolegal analyses, this presentation shows how mass incarceration was not a deviation from democratic consolidation, but a constitutive element of it, shaped by the reconfiguration of state power, judicial roles, and class domination in post-authoritarian Brazil.
This workshop is part of the Social Analysis of Penality Across Borders series which is co-organised by Professor Richard Sparks and Professor Máximo Sozzo.