SURVEILLANT ASSEMBLAGES AND BORDER GOVERNANCE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH: A CRITICAL STUDY OF BRICS SECURITY PRACTICES

Abstract

Objective: This article undertakes a critical analysis of border governance and surveillance practices within BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), employing the conceptual framework of surveillance assemblages. The primary aim is to examine how emerging technologies—such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and unmanned aerial systems—are reshaping the exercise of sovereign power, fostering transnational security cooperation, and recalibrating the balance between protective measures and fundamental rights in the Global South.

Methodology: This investigation adopts a qualitative and theoretical approach, grounded in critical surveillance studies (notably the works of Haggerty & Ericson, Lyon, Zuboff, among others). It consists of an interdisciplinary critical analysis that integrates theories of biopolitics, surveillance capitalism, and governmentality with empirical data concerning BRICS security practices and cooperation frameworks. The study also highlights the legal ambiguities and “normative silences” that facilitate the experimentation with surveillance regimes beyond established international standards.

Results: The study demonstrates that BRICS countries have been reinforcing their borders through the deployment of advanced technologies, integrating biometric surveillance systems, interoperable databases, drones, and artificial intelligence. These developments constitute complex surveillance assemblages that transform individuals into “data doubles,” enabling selective and predictive control over mobility. Such practices expose significant power asymmetries within the bloc, with China and Russia playing dominant roles in technological provision and management. Although framed within a discourse of security and development, these measures pose substantial risks to privacy, civil liberties, and due process—particularly in multicultural and border regions. Moreover, while cooperation among BRICS members is relevant in addressing transnational crimes such as terrorism, trafficking, and piracy, it remains fraught with geopolitical tensions, socioeconomic disparities, and challenges in legal harmonization.

Conclusions: The article concludes that border governance within the BRICS, while marked by technological innovation and advances in cooperation, tends to reproduce logics of hierarchy, authoritarianism, and inequality characteristic of the Global South. While enhancing security, these practices simultaneously undermine fundamental rights and reinforce patterns of social and political exclusion. The author advocates for deeper critical reflection on the ethical, legal, and political implications of such practices, emphasizing that the consolidation of a BRICS surveillance model may represent a distinct paradigm from that of the Global North—yet one that is equally problematic.