A “Revolution” in Crime? The Emergence of Massa Carcerária/Tudo Neutro (TDN) in Ceará

Abstract

This article analyzes the emergence of the Massa Carcerária/Tudo Neutro (TDN) in Ceará, focusing on the collective’s strategies of legitimation, identity, and ethical reorganization of crime within a field of material and symbolic disputes among criminal collectives and communities. The study draws on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and empirical documents -  including messages, statutes, judicial records, and internal communiqués known as “salves” - to examine how TDN differentiates itself from and rivals established groups such as Comando Vermelho (CV) and Guardiões do Estado (GDE), while selectively appropriating ideological repertoires from the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). The analysis highlights the redefinition of the prison mass as a repertoire of relative freedom, neutrality, and cooperation, linking discursive and symbolic practices with strategies of criminal governance. The study also emphasizes the relationship between state crime-control policies and internal reorganizations of criminal communities, showing how the penitentiary system functions simultaneously as a space of dispute, organizational innovation, and legitimacy construction.