Urban Violence and Citizanship

Political protest is the expression of the non-acquiescence about a decision or a set of political decisions, or the non-acknowledgement of the legitimacy for the decision making process. The political intervention is assumed to be, in that case, extremely relevant for the political and social awareness.  – Felgueiras  Sérgio. Geração á Rasca . Chiado Books , 2017

The theme “urban violence” appears, therefore, as an interdisciplinary study proposal, in a nucleus integrated by several areas of social sciences (Sociology, Pedagogy, Philosophy, Anthropology, Economics, Psychology, Communication, Law, History and other related areas), with the purpose of understanding, through research and scientific work, the various aspects of urban violence, and directing socio-ideological changes that will guide public policies aimed at the causes and consequences of violence in this environment.

Contexts of violence

The hyper concentration of metropolises, over information and communication and information technologies in the centres of power and economic life, hyper-specialization and the increase in job insecurity produce an increasing number of excluded people who are left on the fringes of the labour market.

Employment and social and informational inclusion, exposed and vulnerable to unconventional, marginal, anomic and criminal forms of survival.

There is a culture of violence associated with large urban centres, with a high population density, due to social inequality, poverty and poor living conditions, marginality, the disruption of institutions such as the family, migrations of populations and ethnic groups, violent alternative cultures, etc.

Urban violence, violence associated with terrorism, armed conflicts, natural disasters, new epidemics, the effects of pollution, the greenhouse effect, illegal markets that proliferate with globalization, trafficking and organized crime, trade blood and organs, the precariousness of jobs, the financial situation of individuals, the difficulty of housing, the precariousness of retirement pensions, the new risks with food, create situations of violence and conflicts.