SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF INJUSTICE AND POLITICAL RADICALIZATION: Analysis of the Supreme Federal Court's Approach in the First Trials of the January 8, 2023 Acts
Political radicalization; Perceived injustice; Judicial processes; Restorative justice; Legal anthropology.
This dissertation analyzes, from an anthropological perspective, how the Brazilian Su-preme Court processes the subjective elements related to political radicalization in its decisions regarding the January 8, 2023 events. The research examines the first three criminal convictions handed down by the Court in these cases, focusing on the treat-ment given to feelings of perceived injustice expressed by the defendants. Based on Alexandra Poli and Onur Arun's meta-ethnography, which demonstrates the preponderance of subjective meanings of inequality over objective variables in radicalization processes, the analysis reveals how the Court converts manifestations of subjective perceptions into evidentiary elements of criminal intent, without adequately exploring their centrality to understanding and intervening in radicalization processes. The results indicate that the judicial response prioritizes traditional legal categories, such as intent and culpability, to the detriment of understanding the subjective factors that motivate adherence to extremist discourses. As an alternative, the research proposes the incorporation of restorative justice mechanisms, which would allow recognition of the subjective dimension of radicalization without compromising the necessary criminal