Invisible Walls and the Jailer of Himself

Based on field research and interviews carried out in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro between 2015 and 2018, the following article analyses the electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders in Brazil. Drawing upon the personal accounts of monitored people, it presents the connections between EM practices and incarceration. It then describes some of the subjectification processes triggered by the monitoring process, in relation to self-control. Finally, the article discusses the effects of electronic bracelets as a visible mark fixed on the body, in urban contexts governed by militias, criminal factions and public police forces.