HIGHWAY CONCESSIONAIRE AND CONTROL STRATEGIES: THE CASE OF BRAZILIAN HIGHWAY WANDERERSAbstract
The Brazilian highway wanderers are individuals who walk long distances through the country highways with a bag on their backs or pulling a wheelbarrow in which they carry all their belongings, with no defined destination or pre-established routes. This research aimed to analyze the treatment given by a highway concessionaire to the highway wanderers within their policies of traffic management and pedestrian transit along the roadsides. An interview was conducted with a professional who is responsible for the management of an important highway in São Paulo State, located in one of the main transport walkways where highway wanderers are often seen. The results indicated that the control strategies utilized by the highway concessionaire include vigilance actions and the administrative measures that, under the normalization effects, supervise and distribute the Brazilian highway wanderers in this open and anonymous space through which multiplicities circulate.
Keywords: highway wanderers; biopolitic; social normalization; control