Juliana Borges Analyzes Mass Incarceration in Brazil with Intersectional Method

Juliana Borges, a researcher and University of São Paulo graduate, published "O que é encarceramento em massa?" in 2018 through Editoras Letramento & Justificando. Her introductory work examines Brazil's punitive rationality, which holds the world's third-largest prison population. Borges argues the carceral system functions as brutal social control rather than a response to crime. The book's first chapter outlines the ideological and historical foundations of imprisonment, blending statistics with analyses from thinkers like Foucault, Althusser, Sueli Carneiro, and Carla Akotirene. Borges elevates intersectionality to a methodological tool, focusing on the specific incarceration of Black women. The second chapter links Brazil's prison logic to its racist history, from slavery to post-abolition criminalization. The third chapter analyzes the contemporary impact of the drug war, noting a 567.4% increase in female incarceration between 2000 and 2014, predominantly affecting Black women. The final chapter proposes a radical abolitionist vision aligned with Black feminist thought. The book is part of the Feminismos Plurais collection coordinated by Djamila Ribeiro.