[Séminaire - Les sciences sociales en question] Ethnography of organized crime: the case of Brazil

LES SCIENCES SOCIALES EN QUESTION : GRANDES CONTROVERSES ÉPISTÉMOLOGIQUES ET MÉTHODOLOGIQUES 

Sciences Po, Room K008, 1 place Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, 75007 Paris 

Ethnography involves spending time in the field, establishing trust and intimacy with the people observed. How is it possible when you investigate illegal, often violent activities and networks? Drawing from his ethnographic fieldwork on various criminal groups in Brazil, Gabriel Feltran tells us how he faced the epistemological, ethical and practical challenges involved. Federico Varese discusses his methodology, drawing from his own research on organized crime.

Speaker

Gabriel Feltran (Sciences Po, CEE) has recently published “Variations in Homicide Rates in Brazil: An Explanation Centred on Criminal Group Conflicts”, Dilemas, Rev. Estud. Conflito Controle Soc. , 2022, 4; “(Il)licit Economies in Brazil: An Ethnographic Perspective”, Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 2019, 2(1); The entangled city. Crime as urban fabric in São Paulo, Manchester University Press, 2020; Stolen Cars. A Journey Through São Paulo’s Urban Conflict Wiley, 2022.

Discussant

Federico Varese, Sciences Po, CEE is a specialist of organized crime. He has recently published “The determinants of group membership in organized crime in the UK: A network study”, Global Crime, 2022, 23(1) (with Paolo Campana); “Rigorous ethnography” in Klarita Gërxhani, Nan de Graaf, Werner Raub eds., Handbook of Sociological Science, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022; “Ethnographies of Organized Crime” in Sandra M. Bucerius, Kevin D. Haggerty, and Luca Berardi eds., The Oxford Handbook of Ethnographies of Crime and Criminal Justice, Oxford University Press, 2021; Mafia Life, Profile books, 2018.

Chair

Nonna Mayer, Sciences Po, CEE, CNRS

Coordination scientifique: Samy Cohen Sciences Po-CERI, Nonna Mayer, Sciences Po-CEE, CNRS