CGM Cristiano Garcia Mendes
Article cover: Private Military Companies, Necropower and Fragile States
Article 2026

Private Military Companies, Necropower and Fragile States

Empresas Militares Privadas, Necropoder e Estados Frágeis

Karina Junqueira · Cristiano Mendes

Full text

Open access · CC BY
Download PDF

Self-archived by the author under CC BY.

Abstract

Private military companies (PMCs) have gained prominence in the international arena, exercising what the authors term necropower in fragile states. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Foucault, Agamben, and Mbembe, the article examines how these entities engage in violence against civilian populations, treating such actions as an exercise of sovereign power over life and death within contemporary warfare contexts (massacres against unarmed civilian populations are framed as deliberate targeting rather than incidental harm).

How to cite

ABNT

JUNQUEIRA, K.; MENDES, C. Empresas Militares Privadas, Necropoder e Estados Frágeis. Contexto Internacional, v. 48, n. 1, p. e20240048, 2026. DOI: 10.1590/s0102-8529.20244603e20240048.

APA

Junqueira, K., & Mendes, C. (2026). Empresas Militares Privadas, Necropoder e Estados Frágeis. Contexto Internacional, 48(1), e20240048. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-8529.20244603e20240048

BibTeX 
@article{mendes2026pmc,
  author = {Karina Junqueira and Cristiano Mendes},
  title = {Empresas Militares Privadas, Necropoder e Estados Frágeis},
  journal = {Contexto Internacional},
  volume = {48},
  number = {1},
  pages = {e20240048},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1590/s0102-8529.20244603e20240048},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-8529.20244603e20240048}
}

Related