From the “note of condolence” to the “unjust aggression”

An ethnography of the narratives about death written by PMSC

Abstract

This article is the result of the ethnographic work carried out on the Santa Catarina Military Police news platform, PMSC Notícias. By analyzing news narratives about death, dying and the dead published in 2021, the authors explore the social inequalities that exist in deaths, in the representations of dying and in the treatment of the dead. From this analysis, five types of deaths were categorized: a) natural; b) “guilty” violent acts; c) “intentional” violence caused by “criminals”; d) “intentional” violence caused by the PMSC and; e) suicides which highlighted absences and inscriptions that strengthen the police institution at the same time as these legitimate its actions and values through narratives in “notes of regret” and “unjust aggression”.