Crisis of Praxis: Depoliticization and Leftist Fragmentation in Brazil

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on two problems in Brazilian left politics: fragmentation anddepoliticization. There is consensus inside the Brazilian left regarding its fragmentation, but the scenario requires a careful analysis of fragmentation since the conjunctural change of June 2013.The same can be said about depoliticization, explained here through the phenomena of post-politics and ultra-politics, and which is arguably the marker of the difficulties the left has found to mobilize the working class even as this class is under attack. This dissertation fills the gap in the literature by addressing these two problems from the Gramscian-influenced perspective of a crisis of praxis.The concept of a crisis of praxis is proposed to attend to the misalignment between theory and practice at the leftist organizational level that has led to melancholia and distance from the consciousness of the class, despite the potential held by new mobilizations -both spontaneous and organized. It is argued that without properly addressing fragmentation and depoliticization, the left will have trouble appealing to the working class, especially given the conclusions of a crisis of representation that was exposed in Brazil in June 2013 and capitalized on by right-wing conservative forces in order to foster political instability in their favour.ii This dissertation is dedicated to the loving memory of Simone Peres, who will continue to inspire those fighting for social justice in Brazil for years to come.iii AcknowledgementsThe path I began trailing in 2012 to write this dissertation is not the one where I ended up in 2016, and I am thankful for that. The idea for this dissertation was born from political and personal struggle, so change was a constant theme throughout. I could not have withstood this challenging course without the help of some incredible people. My first thank you goes to my doctoral supervisor Justin Paulson, who truly embodies the meaning of mentorship. Justin helped me craft the foundation of my research project at a turbulent political time, encouraging me to take on the challenge of studying revolution and counter-revolution as they happened. A careful listener, he guided me through fieldwork and all of my conflicts as a militant-researcher, including during moments of health-related distress, while, of course, helping me sail through programme requirements and those endless funding applications.

Mobilising the Periphery: Brazil's My House My Life Programme and the Homeless Workers' Movement

“…However, the proximity between Boulos and Lula and between the MTST and the Workers' Party may have increased due to the pressures of polarisation, uniting otherwise distinct political actors in common cause against the new political right. At the same time, this proximity to the moderate left has not led to co‐optation or radical compromise (Fernandes, 2017: 141).…”

“…The movement is anti‐capitalist and rhetorically and practically challenges the exploitative logic of capitalism. The encampments made on occupied land, for instance, are used for settlement and sustenance in ways that help to bracket the MST settlements from financial flows in the agrarian sector, and through shared livelihoods help to generate solidaristic ties (Fernandes, 2017: 96). The MST thus represented not only a vibrant social movement that grew tremendously over the 1990s and provided a livelihood for thousands of landless peasants, but also a challenge to the logic of market exchange as a means of social reproduction (Vergara‐Camus, 2014).…”

“…The MTST had a leading role in mobilising civil society opposition to the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and when that impeachment went ahead, advocated for direct elections to bring an end to a government that its members held to be illegitimate. As a part of this protagonism, the MTST led the organisation of a popular front called Povo Sem Medo (People Without Fear), one of the two main fronts that opposed the impeachment and the Temer government (Fernandes, 2017: 142). The other front, Frente Brasil Popular (Brazilian Popular Front), grew out of a longer process of coordinated popular organisation during the later years of Dilma Rousseff's Presidency and was led by the MST and Central Única dos Trabalhadores (Unified Workers' Central), the largest labour union in the country.…”

Occupying Paulista: Housing activism, the new right and the politics of public space during the Brazilian crisis

“…Boulos has criticized various policies introduced by the Workers’ Party, including the ‘My House My Life’ program – a sub-program of which the movement used to construct housing for its members (e.g. Boulos, 2014: 22–3, 2015: 52), and the MTST continued to criticize the Party even during the impeachment process (Fernandes, 2017: 141). Nonetheless, both Dilma and Lula had visited the movement’s headquarters and Boulos often occupied the stage with Dilma and Lula in public events during the crisis.…”

Taxes and tithes: The organizational foundations ofbolsonarismo

“…In this way, Brazil’s major Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal denominations, acting like quasi-parties – or, in some cases, forming registered parties of their own – occupied the physical, spiritual, and political spaces progressive civic organizations left empty. While the Brazilian Left became more pulverized, sectarian, and entwined with the state throughout the 2000s (Fernandes, 2017), evangelical churches performed the kind of base-building work that many of these other civic institutions neglected. ‘They won,’ Frei Betto said bluntly, referring to the conservative evangelical leadership bloc.…”