Lélia Gonzalez’s contributions to sociological studies on social control and punishment in Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this article is to conduct a dialogue between empirical research from the sociology of violence and the conceptual discussions proposed by Lélia Gonzalez, with emphasis on what she called racism by denial. To this end, it will address works that empirically demonstrate the historical persistence of racially selective state repression by security and justice institutions, but that have not reverberated as paradigms in the field of sociological studies on violence. To answer the question about the possibilities of the conceptual debate proposed by Gonzalez to be useful for the analysis of empirical data that attest to a racially selective repression, we will see how the author was attentive to the selectivity that oppressed black individuals and territories, highlighting the concealed modes of a racialized performance that does not assume itself as such.