Security and Surveillance in Times of Globalization

Abstract

Brazilian geographer Milton Santos is among the most influential theorists in Brazil and in the rest of Latin America yet his work has not until now been popularized in Anglo-American scholarship. Santos created a solid theoretical framework composed by a set of articulated concepts, some of which are discussed in this paper: technical-scientific and informational milieu, technical unicity, convergence of moments, enlargement of contexts, knowability of the planet, contemporary acceleration, psycho-sphere, techno-sphere and counter-rationalities. This article also presents Santos' conception of globalization as fable, perversity and possibility. Through a review of the author's main works, particularly the book Toward an Other Globalization, and through the application of some of his concepts to the analysis of contemporary events, this article intends to offer an introduction to Santos to the Anglo world and to demonstrate how his conceptual framework can contribute to the literature on surveillance and urban security.