Abstract

This article discusses practices of hygienism and social cleansing in Brazilian urban spaces. It takes the case of a traditional fishing community, located in north-eastern Brazil, that is under the threat of being evicted from the area occupied for more than 60 years, while locals are accused of pursuing dangerous and violent ways of life. These practices are considered, from a Foucauldian perspective, as part of biopolitcal strategies connected with state racism, that in contemporary society underpin a discourse of social security and development. It also discusses how the criminalization of certain social groups is used to justify, on the one hand, the restriction to certain spaces, and, on the other, privileged forms of access to public space.