A Horizon of (Im)possibilities
A Chronicle of Brazil’s Conservative Turn
Katerina Hatzikidi (Editor), Eduardo Dullo (Editor)
Published in association with: Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
The 2018 presidential election result in Brazil surprised and shocked many. Since then, numerous debates and a growing body of texts have attempted to understand the country’s so-called conservative turn.
A gripping in-depth account of politics and society in Brazil today, this new volume brings together a myriad of different perspectives to help us better understand the political events that shook the country in recent years. Combining ethnographic insights with political science, history, sociology, and anthropology, the interdisciplinary analyses included offer a panoramic view on social and political change in Brazil, spanning temporal and spatial dimensions. Starting with the 2018 presidential election, the contributors discuss the country’s recent –or more distant– past in relation to the present. Pointing to the continuities and disruptions in the course of those years, the analyses offered are an invaluable guide to unpacking and understanding the limits of Brazilian democracy, including what has already come to pass, but also what is yet to come.
“Rich and eclectic... It is highly unlikely you will read this book without uncovering new questions about an important phenomenon – the rise of a new, authoritarian, and populist right – that is both distinctly Brazilian *and global.”
* -Anthony W. Pereira (Florida International University, USA)
*“An illuminating picture of Brazilian society.”
* -Martijn Oosterbaan ({::}Utrecht University, Netherlands)
“Rich and insightful… Reading across these chapters, one thing becomes clear: although Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency is harming marginalized communities, his rise is not an aberration in Brazilian political culture. Rather, he is the natural-born son of this beloved but paradoxical country deeply marked by inequalities, violences, and a long authoritarian tradition.”
-Amy Erica Smith ({::}Iowa State)
“The authors carefully reveal how the emergence of a new conservative right in Brazil is actually not a new phenomenon, but the continuity of an authoritarian culture that inhabits Brazilian society and sociability in a diffuse and perennial way.”
-Roberta Bivar C. Campos ({::}Federal University of Pernambuco)
“{::}{::}A{::}{::} ground-breaking volume that shed light not only on Brazil’s current affairs but on the Global South as a whole. Written by leading scholars, this interdisciplinary book brings original fresh arguments to understand how once “the country of the future” turned into “the country of the past”. Yet, more than looking at the past, this edited collection also presents several contributions that look ahead and help us to envision new horizons of hope and possibilities for Brazil and for the world. This book is an original contribution that will impact the field of far right and Latin American studies.”
–Professor Rosana Pinheiro Machado (University College Dublin, Ireland){::}**
“Anybody interested in Brazil, from professional researchers in the country to readers who like to follow its many complicated lives, will want to read this magnificent volume. The books becomes a model of how collaborative social science can be conducted in the decolonial world of today.”
-Professor Ramon Sarró (Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of Africa, University of Oxford)
*”A rich and diverse collection of perspectives on the Brazil of Bolsonaro’s presidency. With authors from across the social sciences, and wide-ranging themes- from the work of Brazil’s quilombola and indigenous activists to that of its far-right bloggers and elite philanthropists- the volume is fundamental reading for understanding the rise of the far-right in contemporary Brazil.”
* -Sean T. Mitchell (Rutgers University, USA and author of ‘Constellations of Inequality: Space, Race, and Utopia in Brazil’)
Foreword Carly Machado
Introduction: Brazil’s conservative return Katerina Hatzikidi and Eduardo Dullo
Looking back: How did we get here?
-
The past of the present Lilia Moritz Schwarcz
-
Denied recognition: threats against the rights of quilombola communities José M. Arruti and Thaisa Held
-
From Orkut to Brasília: the origins of the New Brazilian Right Camila Rocha
-
Ritual, text and politics: the evangelical mindset and political polarization David Lehmann
The horizon ahead: Where are we going?
-
After affirmative action: redrawing colour lines in Brazil Graziella Moraes Silva
-
From participation to silence: Grassroots politics in contemporary Brazil Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos
-
Development opportunity or national crisis? The implications of Brazil’s political shift for elite philanthropy and civil society organising Jessica Sklair
-
Politics and collective mobilisation in post-PT Brazil Jeff Garmany
Conclusion: Shifting horizons. Katerina Hatzikidi and Eduardo Dullo
Afterword: No matter who won, indigenous resistance will always continue. Taily Terena, João Tikuna, Gabriel Soares
PDF: 9781908857927
EPUB: 9781908857910
Read Online: 9781908590954
Paperback: 9781908857897 / 256 pages / 229mm x 152mm
Katerina Hatzikidi (Editor)
Katerina Hatzikidi (DPhil, Oxon) is a political anthropologist and ERC Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Tübingen, Germany
Eduardo Dullo (Editor)
“Rich and eclectic... It is highly unlikely you will read this book without uncovering new questions about an important phenomenon – the rise of a new, authoritarian, and populist right – that is both distinctly Brazilian *and global.”
* -Anthony W. Pereira (Florida International University, USA)
*“An illuminating picture of Brazilian society.”
* -Martijn Oosterbaan ({::}Utrecht University, Netherlands)
“Rich and insightful… Reading across these chapters, one thing becomes clear: although Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency is harming marginalized communities, his rise is not an aberration in Brazilian political culture. Rather, he is the natural-born son of this beloved but paradoxical country deeply marked by inequalities, violences, and a long authoritarian tradition.”
-Amy Erica Smith ({::}Iowa State)
“The authors carefully reveal how the emergence of a new conservative right in Brazil is actually not a new phenomenon, but the continuity of an authoritarian culture that inhabits Brazilian society and sociability in a diffuse and perennial way.”
-Roberta Bivar C. Campos ({::}Federal University of Pernambuco)
“{::}{::}A{::}{::} ground-breaking volume that shed light not only on Brazil’s current affairs but on the Global South as a whole. Written by leading scholars, this interdisciplinary book brings original fresh arguments to understand how once “the country of the future” turned into “the country of the past”. Yet, more than looking at the past, this edited collection also presents several contributions that look ahead and help us to envision new horizons of hope and possibilities for Brazil and for the world. This book is an original contribution that will impact the field of far right and Latin American studies.”
–Professor Rosana Pinheiro Machado (University College Dublin, Ireland){::}**
“Anybody interested in Brazil, from professional researchers in the country to readers who like to follow its many complicated lives, will want to read this magnificent volume. The books becomes a model of how collaborative social science can be conducted in the decolonial world of today.”
-Professor Ramon Sarró (Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of Africa, University of Oxford)
*”A rich and diverse collection of perspectives on the Brazil of Bolsonaro’s presidency. With authors from across the social sciences, and wide-ranging themes- from the work of Brazil’s quilombola and indigenous activists to that of its far-right bloggers and elite philanthropists- the volume is fundamental reading for understanding the rise of the far-right in contemporary Brazil.”
* -Sean T. Mitchell (Rutgers University, USA and author of ‘Constellations of Inequality: Space, Race, and Utopia in Brazil’)
Subject: Languages, Cultures and Societies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies
BISAC codes: POL042020, POL057000
Thema codes: JP, JPFQ
Keywords: 2018, Bolsonaro, Brazil, Latin American politics, Trump, authoritarianism, conservatism, democracy, elections, far-right, populism, protest
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