Militaries, militias and unicorns: platform authoritarianism in Brazil

Abstract

The article presents two cases in which the appropriation of technological innovations leads to renewed economic and power relations, which in turn reinforce local transformation processes of governmental management and of barely-regularized economic activities. The workings of a command and control system in Rio de Janeiro and the delivery structure of a "food tech" company reinforce authoritarian or violent modes of operation, all the while enabling the development of illicit activities linked to the “militianization” of crime, as well as of security forces, of economic activities and of politics in present-day Brazil. Based on these cases, we present a discussion on a few specificities concerning the technological appropriation of certain devices in the Global South and its effects on the production of society and social relations.