Thermal Violence: The Politics of Climate Control in Brazil’s Prisons

This article explores the intersection of carceral geographies and climate (in)justice in Brazil, home to one of the world’s largest incarcerated populations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and an analysis of reports from monitoring organisations examining facilities across the country, we ask how thermal conditions are part of a national project of inflicting suffering within the prison system. Conductive building materials, a lack or excess of water and ventilation, as well as overcrowding, exacerbate exposure to scorching heat or bone-chilling cold, subjecting prisoners’ bodies to extreme temperatures. We argue that this constitutes a form of thermal violence, in which heat and cold are weaponised to harm and punish.