VIOLENCE AND DEMOCRACY 25 YEARS LATER

INTERVIEW WITH ANGELINA PERALVA

Abstract

Angelina Peralva is a sociologist who developed her research program between Brazil and France. The interview, recorded on video and transcribed and revised for publication, addresses topics such as democracy, social movements, violence, and illicit markets, drawing on her book published in 2000. The work sought to understand the tensions between democratization and violence, questioning the coexistence of institutional advances and exclusionary social practices. By proposing that violence is not an anomaly, but a structural element of Brazilian democracy, Peralva formulated one of the most original interpretations of the post-dictatorial period. The balance between change and continuity is the theme, highlighting the greater social acceptance of state violence in the present, reevaluating the optimism surrounding the overcoming of the dictatorship, and signaling the need for changes in the political agenda.