Land policy by other means: democracy and the military in contemporary urban Brazil

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the Armed Forces and the land market in Brazilian metropolises. Highlighting the important of the urban dimensions of this relationship, this research sheds light on agents usually invisibilized by the literature in an attempt to understand their role in land policy. The practices, meanings, and outcomes of the Armed Forces’ involvement is reflectedin the decision-making conditions that characterize Brazilian democracy. By establishing a dialogue with a well-known aphorism from Prussian strategist Carl von Clausewitz, that war is the continuation of politics by other means, we present and analyze land policies as continued by war operators. As we analyze military management practices and the commodification of public spaces, we find the city’s production dynamics are galvanized by Army generals. Beyond security, surveillance, and population control, the Armed Forces have carried out a complex set of strategies regarding the occupation of cities, fueling debates around the nature of democracy underway in contemporary Brazil.