Death marks in the city – contesting the signature of gendered necropolitics in Vitória, Brazil

Abstract. Focusing on the aftermath of the abduction, rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl in Vitória, the paper argues that the violent event has left various traces that index a necropolitical power formation oriented towards hegemonic political and economic actors. The traces range from physical marks of violence to indications of obfuscation and manifestations of support for the aggressors. Such support was expressed, for example, by the city council's vote to retain a street name that honours the family of one of the alleged perpetrators. To analyse necropolitics through such traces, we draw on Mitchell Dean's discussion of the “signature of power” alongside works on feminicide, counter-forensics and contested toponymy. Thus reading necropolitics through its signature, we argue, sheds light on its specific context of formation and allows for scrutinizing the specific strategies and material elements through which necropolitics unfolds its deadly effects.