Gabriel Funari

Gabriel Funari

DPhil in Sociology

Thesis: 'Criminal Policing and Militia Governance in Brazil'

Supervisor(s): Leigh Payne

My research focuses on the ways in which violent policing shapes illicit markets and local governance provision. My DPhil thesis 'Criminal Policing and Militia Governance in Brazil’, undertakes a national-level comparison of police death squads and militia groups in contemporary Brazil.

Prior to the DPhil, I was a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Violence at the University of São Paulo, where I studied the impact of procedural justice training on police conduct. I obtained an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Philosophy from American University.

My work has been published in the 'Bulletin of Latin American Research', 'Latin American Perspectives' and in media outlets including 'Congresso em Foco', 'State Violence Research Network' and 'The Council on Hemispheric Affairs'.

Research Interests: Policing, organized crime, urban violence, Latin America.

Publications: 

  • “'Family, God, Brazil, Guns…’ The State of Criminal Governance in Contemporary Brazil”, Journal article published by Bulletin of Latin American Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/blar.13240
  • “Introduction: Intersections of Activism and Academia”, Co-authored journal article published by Bulletin of Latin American Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/blar.13271
  • “The Programmatic Shifts in the PT’s Constitutionalist Agenda (1988–2013)”, Journal article published by Latin American Perspectives, 47(5): 163-178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X20942605