Military institutions and the order of “good society”

the Guarda Nacional in the coffee productions areas of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The present work is on discussing some aspects of the Guarda Nacional (National Guard) functioning, taking as a case of study the towns
of Vassouras e Valença, which at the time of the creation of the milicia (militia) stood out as major coffee production areas. The Guarda Nacional will be going to be addressed as a military institution and singular example of an instrument for the citizens and for the State itself to define hegemony relations, focusing on the analysis of its liturgical operations (parades, summonings, etc.), understood as a “political ritual” to legitimize power, allowing the ordered and hierarched representation of society.