Papers by Daniel Edler Duarte
Surveillance & Society, 2021
We are witnessing an upsurge in crime forecasting software, which supposedly draws predictive kno... more We are witnessing an upsurge in crime forecasting software, which supposedly draws predictive knowledge from data on past crime. Although prevention and anticipation are already embedded in the apparatuses of government, going beyond a mere abstract aspiration, the latest innovations hold out the promise of replacing police officers’ “gut feelings” and discretionary risk assessments with algorithmic-powered, quantified analyses of risk scores. While police departments and private companies praise such innovations for their cost-effective rationale, critics raise concerns regarding their potential for discriminating against poor, black, and migrant communities. In this article, I address such controversies by telling the story of the making of CrimeRadar, an app developed by a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank in partnership with private associates and local police authorities. Drawing mostly on Latour’s contributions to the emerging literature on security assemblages, I argue that we ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and ... more In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and deployed digital systems to monitor urban mobility. This article addresses the setting of two digital technologies based on massive cell-phone data collection by private companies in Sao Paulo state. We relied on secondary data from multiple sources (press conferences, interviews, newspaper articles, public documents), complemented by primary data from the authors’ ongoing research. In our analysis of heterogeneous and contingent techniques of pandemic control, we found that although these monitoring technologies seem to be effective in assisting public services and informing society, they also raise issues about performativity and transparency, with relevant consequences for their adoption in sanitary emergencies, and their potential legacy to Sao Paulo’s public safety management. Funding: This work was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp) under the Grants No. 2016/24525-3, No. 2019/02612-0, and No. 2013/07923-7; and Capes Research Foundation, Grant No. 88887.368551/2019-00. Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Ethical Approval: The research we developed did not involve any kind of research or experiment with humans or animals. The research effort was limited to consultation of websites, newspaper articles, public information, and published papers, requiring no form of authorization to do so. This said, according to the Elsevier’s Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication (version 2.0, May 2017), no ethical approval statement is required for this specific research.
This paper analyses the results of the 2011 EU-Brazil Summit within the context of the Eurozone c... more This paper analyses the results of the 2011 EU-Brazil Summit within the context of the Eurozone crisis, the developments in the Middle East and the emergence of Brazil as a major player on the world stage. It does so through a discourse analysis of the Summit's conclusion on issues of global, regional and bilateral relevance. The paper argues that developments within the framework of the Strategic Partnership have left a lot to be desired on a practical level, and argues that the reasons for its original inception were mostly related to political objectives rather than strong functional considerations. The paper is divided into three parts. The first reviews the history of the Strategic Partnership; the second seeks to explain the concept and incentives for the 2007 agreement; finally, the third part sheds light on the events surrounding the 2011 Summit and draws conclusions regarding its outcome.
Revista Sociologias, 2022
Políticas de controle da pandemia de Covid-19 têm sido alvo de disputas no Brasil, com autoridade... more Políticas de controle da pandemia de Covid-19 têm sido alvo de disputas no Brasil, com autoridades divergindo sobre formas de tratamento e os efeitos das estratégias de distanciamento social. Análises recentes caracterizam tais disputas como uma “batalha ideológica” de Bolsonaro contra “argumentos racionais” de especialistas e da OMS. Além disso, críticos caracterizam Bolsonaro como um representante do “populismo científico” que produz fake news para sustentar pautas negacionistas. Neste artigo, dialogamos com o campo de estudos de Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS) para analisar os usos da ciência durante a pandemia. Demostramos que Bolsonaro não nega enunciados científicos in toto, mas busca legitimar suas políticas de saúde a partir das controvérsias públicas sobre a ciência. Ao explorar os meandros da produção de fatos científicos, o que Bolsonaro faz é questionar as credenciais da OMS e acusar opositores de politizarem pesquisas sobre formas de contenção da pandemia. Em outras palavras, Bolsonaro e seu entorno avançam uma imagem transcendental da Ciência, que reifica a divisão moderna entre o saber científico e a cultura, para criticar a contaminação ideológica de algumas instituições científicas no período de pandemia. Tal postura revela o jogo de poder epistêmico intrínseco ao debate contemporâneo sobre pós-verdade, no qual ideologia, esoterismo e desrazão são atribuídos sempre ao enunciado do outro.
Governing Human Lives and Health in Pandemic Times, 2022
SSRN Electronic Journal
In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and ... more In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and deployed digital systems to monitor urban mobility. This article addresses the setting of two digital technologies based on massive cell-phone data collection by private companies in Sao Paulo state. We relied on secondary data from multiple sources (press conferences, interviews, newspaper articles, public documents), complemented by primary data from the authors’ ongoing research. In our analysis of heterogeneous and contingent techniques of pandemic control, we found that although these monitoring technologies seem to be effective in assisting public services and informing society, they also raise issues about performativity and transparency, with relevant consequences for their adoption in sanitary emergencies, and their potential legacy to Sao Paulo’s public safety management. Funding: This work was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp) under the Grants No. 2016/24525-3, No. 2019/02612-0, and No. 2013/07923-7; and Capes Research Foundation, Grant No. 88887.368551/2019-00. Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Ethical Approval: The research we developed did not involve any kind of research or experiment with humans or animals. The research effort was limited to consultation of websites, newspaper articles, public information, and published papers, requiring no form of authorization to do so. This said, according to the Elsevier’s Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication (version 2.0, May 2017), no ethical approval statement is required for this specific research.
Cadernos Adenauer, 2021
Nos últimos anos, temos testemunhado altos investimentos na expansão de dispositivos biométricos ... more Nos últimos anos, temos testemunhado altos investimentos na expansão de dispositivos biométricos de monitoramento no ambiente urbano. Sistemas de câmeras com softwares de reconhecimento facial são, em geral, apresentados como soluções eficientes e objetivas para a segurança pública, garantindo a rápida identificação de indivíduos suspeitos e aumentando a capacidade de controle por parte da polícia. No entanto, a implementação destes sistemas em áreas públicas tem gerado controvérsias. Organizações da sociedade civil lembram que estas tecnologias ainda apresentam muitos erros e guardam enorme potencial de discriminação racial. Ou seja, se, por um lado, tecnologias de reconhecimento facial podem ajudar na redução da criminalidade, por outro, seu uso acarreta riscos para a liberdade individual, especialmente quando não há regulação específica, objetivos bem delimitados e mecanismos de auditoria dos sistemas. ISBN 978-65-89432-11-1
Revista Brasileira de Ciências Criminais, 2021
The past decade witnessed a fast implementation of predictive systems in police institutions. Sof... more The past decade witnessed a fast implementation of predictive systems in police institutions. Software developers promise their mathematical models are capable of anticipating criminal trends, affording more precision to preventive strategies, and enhancing police efficiency and transparency. However, critics claim maps of future crime reproduce discriminatory patterns inherent to the databases used in the justice system, which further criminalizes marginalized communities. In this article, we debate predictive system’s impact in police practices and demonstrate that these systems reproduce punitive rationalities that gained track in the 1980s. In this sense, we trace the historical parallels between the development of criminological thinking and police techniques for statistical analysis and crime mapping. We also delve into popular predictive models to illustrate how they advance assumptions of the environmental criminology. Finally, we address current controversies on predictive systems and their epistemological authority, and claim that these systems naturalize and legitimize repressive police practices.
Contexto Internacional, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked controversies over health security strategies adopted in differ... more The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked controversies over health security strategies adopted in different countries. The urge to curb the spread of the virus has supported policies to restrict mobility and to build up state surveillance, which might induce authoritarian forms of government. In this context, the Copenhagen School has offered an analytical repertoire that informs many analyses in the fields of critical security studies and global health. Accordingly, the securitisation of COVID-19 might be necessary to deal with the crisis, but it risks unfolding discriminatory practices and undemocratic regimes, with potentially enduring effects. In this article, we look into controversies over pandemic-control strategies to discuss the political and analytical limitations of securitisation theory. On the one hand, we demonstrate that the focus on moments of rupture and exception conceals security practices that unfold in ongoing institutional disputes and over the construction of legitimate knowledge about public health. On the other hand, we point out that securitisation theory hinders a genealogy of modern apparatuses of control and neglects violent forms of government which are manifested not in major disruptive acts, but in the everyday dynamics of unequal societies. We conclude by suggesting that an analysis of the bureaucratic disputes and scientific controversies that constitute health security knowledges and practices enables critical approaches to engage with the multiple-and, at times, mundane-processes in which (in)security is produced, circulated, and contested.
Surveillance & Society, 2021
We are witnessing an upsurge in crime forecasting software, which supposedly draws predictive kno... more We are witnessing an upsurge in crime forecasting software, which supposedly draws predictive knowledge from data on past crime. Although prevention and anticipation are already embedded in the apparatuses of government, going beyond a mere abstract aspiration, the latest innovations hold out the promise of replacing police officers' "gut feelings" and discretionary risk assessments with algorithmic-powered, quantified analyses of risk scores. While police departments and private companies praise such innovations for their cost-effective rationale, critics raise concerns regarding their potential for discriminating against poor, black, and migrant communities. In this article, I address such controversies by telling the story of the making of CrimeRadar, an app developed by a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank in partnership with private associates and local police authorities. Drawing mostly on Latour's contributions to the emerging literature on security assemblages, I argue that we gain explanatory and critical leverage by looking into the mundane practices of making and unmaking sociotechnical arrangements. That is, I address the chain of translations through which crime data are collected, organized, and transformed into risk scores. In every step, new ways of seeing and presenting crime are produced, with a significant impact on how we experience and act upon (in)security.
Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 2021
In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and ... more In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and deployed digital systems to monitor urban mobility. This article addresses the setting of two digital technologies based on massive cell-phone data collection by private companies in São Paulo state. We relied on secondary data from multiple sources (press conferences, interviews, newspaper articles, public documents), complemented by primary data from the authors' ongoing research. In our analysis of heterogeneous and contingent techniques of pandemic control, we found that although these monitoring technologies seem to be effective in assisting public services and informing society, they also raise issues about performativity and transparency, with relevant consequences for their adoption in sanitary emergencies, and their potential legacy to São Paulo's public safety management.
Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2021
In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and ... more In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, Brazilian cities implemented social isolation policies and deployed digital systems to monitor urban mobility. This article addresses the setting of two digital technologies based on massive cell-phone data collection by private companies in São Paulo state. We relied on secondary data from multiple sources (press conferences, interviews, newspaper articles, public documents), complemented by primary data from the authors’ ongoing research. In our analysis of heterogeneous and contingent techniques of pandemic control, we found that although these monitoring technologies seem to be effective in assisting public services and informing society, they also raise issues about performativity and transparency, with relevant consequences for their adoption in sanitary emergencies, and their potential legacy to São Paulo’s public safety management.
Political Perspectives, 2012
This paper analyses the results of the 2011 EU-Brazil Summit
within the context of the Eurozone ... more This paper analyses the results of the 2011 EU-Brazil Summit
within the context of the Eurozone crisis, the developments in the Middle East and the emergence of Brazil as a major player on the world stage. It does so through a discourse analysis of the Summit’s conclusion on issues of global, regional and bilateral relevance. The paper argues that developments within the framework of the Strategic Partnership have left a lot to be desired on a practical level, and argues that the reasons for its
original inception were mostly related to political objectives rather than strong functional considerations. The paper is divided into three parts. The first reviews the history of the Strategic Partnership; the second seeks to explain the concept and incentives for the 2007 agreement; finally, the third part sheds light on the events surrounding the 2011 Summit and draws conclusions regarding its outcome.
Dissertation by Daniel Edler Duarte
Conference Presentation by Daniel Edler Duarte
The article criticizes part of the literature on international security that advocates for the ex... more The article criticizes part of the literature on international security that advocates for the expansion of the agenda of the field, evidencing the ethical and political consequences of adopting the securitization perspective while analysing social issues. In this sense, the contributions of the Copenhagen School are addressed. The research follows the different visions on the creation of Frontex, an agency that - despite being accused of disrespecting the rights of immigrants - became the main producer of knowledge on the risks to European boarders. Finally, the contribution of the International Political Sociology to security studies is addressed, mainly through the work of Didier Bigo and Jef Huysmans. This perspective highlights the main problems of widening the security agenda and its impact in the Liberal State, demonstrating that there is a drastic change in the patterns of governance, with restrictions to individual liberty on behalf of an alleged increase in protection.
Drafts by Daniel Edler Duarte
Poucos projetos de segurança pública capturaram o imaginário carioca e nutriram tantas controvérs... more Poucos projetos de segurança pública capturaram o imaginário carioca e nutriram tantas controvérsias como as Unidades de Polícia Pacificadora. Se a proposta de ocupação de territórios sob domínio do crime organizado ganhou rapidamente status de boa-prática policial, sendo apontada como possível modelo para redução da violência em outras metrópoles do Sul Global, também não demoraram a surgir denúncias contra seu caráter militaresco e contra o foco da “doutrina da pacificação” em áreas de especial interesse para o capital privado. Apesar das acusações contundentes, vozes dissonantes foram por um tempo marginalizadas e mesmo políticos de esquerda e ativistas de direitos humanos chegaram a manifestar apoio ao projeto. O sucesso inicial das UPPs rendeu a José Mariano Beltrame, então-secretário de segurança pública, amplo reconhecimento, tornando-o também figura central nos governos do PMDB. O cenário atual, no entanto, é bem diferente, com críticas generalizadas mesmo entre os entusiastas de outrora. A crise é tamanha, que em declaração recente, Roberto Sá, sucessor de Beltrame, lançou uma sombra sobre o futuro do programa. Em suas palavras, “A UPP foi uma tentativa ousada demais do governo estadual com o instrumento que ele tinha de segurança pública local. […] Talvez estejamos pagando um preço caro por essa tentativa de levar a paz a todas as áreas, inclusive as mais carentes”. [continua]
w/ Julia Guimaraes, Manuela Viana, Debora Freire, Gustavo Puerari
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Papers by Daniel Edler Duarte
within the context of the Eurozone crisis, the developments in the Middle East and the emergence of Brazil as a major player on the world stage. It does so through a discourse analysis of the Summit’s conclusion on issues of global, regional and bilateral relevance. The paper argues that developments within the framework of the Strategic Partnership have left a lot to be desired on a practical level, and argues that the reasons for its
original inception were mostly related to political objectives rather than strong functional considerations. The paper is divided into three parts. The first reviews the history of the Strategic Partnership; the second seeks to explain the concept and incentives for the 2007 agreement; finally, the third part sheds light on the events surrounding the 2011 Summit and draws conclusions regarding its outcome.
Dissertation by Daniel Edler Duarte
Conference Presentation by Daniel Edler Duarte
Drafts by Daniel Edler Duarte
within the context of the Eurozone crisis, the developments in the Middle East and the emergence of Brazil as a major player on the world stage. It does so through a discourse analysis of the Summit’s conclusion on issues of global, regional and bilateral relevance. The paper argues that developments within the framework of the Strategic Partnership have left a lot to be desired on a practical level, and argues that the reasons for its
original inception were mostly related to political objectives rather than strong functional considerations. The paper is divided into three parts. The first reviews the history of the Strategic Partnership; the second seeks to explain the concept and incentives for the 2007 agreement; finally, the third part sheds light on the events surrounding the 2011 Summit and draws conclusions regarding its outcome.