As máscaras do Estado repressor: A criminalização dos movimentos sociais no Brasil

This article aims to problematize the way in which social movements in the form of popular demonstrations held in Brazil in 2013/14 were criminalized in order to guarantee the hosting of megaevents in the country. We therefore discuss the roles played by the legal system in the social sphere, notably its repressive discourse, relating it to the process of identifying those opposing the system. We also conduct a historical review of several Brazilian penal standards used in states of exception, with the aim of better observing how the legal system legitimizes state social control. Our theoretical framework harnesses the perspectives of critical criminology, observing how the debate is marked by numerous political, economic and ideological factors.