Na encruzilhada do exu policial: religião, milícia e regimes de proteção na Zona Oeste da cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

From ethnographic research done at “umbanda” sacred grounds on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, we analyze the different protection regimes beared in these contexts and portrayed by a religious figure – the “exu policial” – an “exu” (entity/spirit from umbanda) embodied by a “mãe de santo” (religious celebrant – mom of saint) that has as a costume an officer uniform. Militiamen police officers assisted by the “exu” have offered it uniforms, bullet proof vests, hats, guns and in return have asked for the protection of their lives when facing the risk of death. In the religious context of the umbanda religion we intend to analyze how different agents position themselves in a trading network that mobilize people and things, in which the protection symbolically circulates, emphasizing the mediation between the militiamen, the “mãe de santo” and the “exu”. I propose thinking, moreover, how such people mobilize twofold moralities in the solution of their conflicts mobilizing, still, a prestigious religious circle that is fed and dramatized in public space via parties celebrating the “exus”, spaces where moms, sons and fathers of saint, as well as their entities, rival in attempt to gain attention from the public at the sacred grounds.