Entre a rua e a prisão: a racialização da pobreza da população negra em situação de rua em Salvador/Bahia

Abstract

This dissertation is ethnographic in nature and looks at the intersection between the categories of analysis: race, poverty and the prison system in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Focusing on the black homeless population, I analyzed how the racialization of poverty contributes to their criminalization and incarceration, which culminates in the logic of prision. The study examines the historical, social, economic and political dynamics that perpetuate racial inequality and shows how these factors, which already influence the secondary criminalization of the black population in general, affect those who are vulnerable the most. In addition, the research sought, through the presentation of the life stories of real people, to understand how the relationships between deficient public policies, punitive police practices, the incipient work of the Judiciary and the stigmatizing role of the prison system make a relevant contribution to the production and reproduction of inequalities. The contextualization of the life stories shows how the intersection between race, class and gender and the oppressions related to these markers also have an impact on the life trajectory of this population, highlighting the need for social and political interventions that address these issues in a qualified manner and where the centrality of discussions and concrete actions are people and their well-being. As a result of this study and my immersion in fieldwork, I was able to identify how prison dynamics not only refer to the processes and interactions that take place within the prison system, but also how their reflexes are present and accompany people even when they cross the walls. These dynamics involve a variety of aspects, from the institutional practices that stimulate or encourage vulnerable people to re-enter the prison system, to the stigmas socially imposed on those who face the harsh reality of deprivation of liberty, which also affects their families.