ProducingAntipetismo: Media activism and the rise of the radical, nationalist right in contemporary Brazil

Abstract

When examining the decline of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores and the ascension of the right-wing extremist Jair Bolsanaro of the far-right Partido Liberal Social to the 2018 presidency, political scientists David Samuels and Cesar Zucco have argued that this shift is best understood not through positive characteristics of Bolsonaro’s candidacy but through antipetismo [‘anti-PT-ism’], an intensely personal resentment of the Partido dos Trabalhadores. We assert that popular right-wing Facebook groups and networks formed around the communication network WhatsApp-fueled antipetismo by channeling anger originating in the 2013 nationwide protests away from a variety of social, political, and issues and toward a villainous depiction of Partido dos Trabalhadores leaders and valorization of anti-Partido dos Trabalhadores activists like Bolsanaro, as well as some focus on his own conservative, nationalist agenda. To interrogate this assertion, we propose two specific lines of research. The first is a qualitative textual analysis of the social media accounts of two of the most active anti-Partido dos Trabalhadores groups: Vem Pra Rua and O Movimento Brasil Livre. Through close reading of the materials distributed on these sites, we will illustrate how they channeled general unrest into a specifically partisan attack. The next line of research and case will be an examination of the role of mainstream news networks (namely TV Record) and WhatsApp by those campaigning for recently elected president Bolsonaro for a continued negative campaign against left candidates, specifically the Partido dos Trabalhadores, using fake news items like the supposed ‘gay kit’ that was being circulated in schools by the Partido dos Trabalhadores and others on the left to persuade children to become gay. When possible, we will analyze examples of the materials that were circulated that have emerged in the press coverage and will examine the processes that were used to target and persuade people to forward the materials created for the campaign.

Talking with the right-wing: Pernicious polarization in Brazil and the philosophy of Paulo Freire

“…There has been some work examining media content produced by these individuals, particularly through social media networks (e.g. Romancini and Castilho, 2019;Zanini and Tatagiba, 2019;Davis and Straubhaar, 2020), and on surveys conducted during protest episodes (Ortellado, Solano and Moretto, 2016). Few studies (e.g.…”

“…Since 2013 however, it has been argued that Brazil has fallen into a growing process of pernicious polarization, manifested by, among other things, a lack of trust of politicians, the dissatisfaction of the left due to the weakening of ties between the PT governments and social movements, and the significance of lulismo and anti-petismo as identity markers. This all facilitated the emergence of Jair Bolsonaro and the resonance of his extreme views among significant portions of the electorate (Hunter and Power, 2019;Davis and Straubhaar, 2020). Consequently, the various demonstrations that have stormed Brazil in the last decade have been interpreted as both triggers and expressions of such pernicious polarization (Hunter and Power, 2019;Davis and Straubhaar, 2020).…”

“…This all facilitated the emergence of Jair Bolsonaro and the resonance of his extreme views among significant portions of the electorate (Hunter and Power, 2019;Davis and Straubhaar, 2020). Consequently, the various demonstrations that have stormed Brazil in the last decade have been interpreted as both triggers and expressions of such pernicious polarization (Hunter and Power, 2019;Davis and Straubhaar, 2020).…”

Understanding Viral Communism: A Thematic Analysis of Twitter During Brazil’s 2018 Elections

“…More recently, the leader of the country's biggest left-wing party has showcased close ties to communist parties elsewhere (Gazeta do Povo, 2019). As traditional leftists are discredited amid corruption charges, the so-called antipetismo has carried undertones of the old anti-communism (Davis and Straubhaar, 2019).…”

“…Tweets trade in stories supposedly extracted from other communist societies to sustain their users' theses against the Workers' Party, as shown below: #Lula wins the elections; #PT starts to implement, finally, communism in the country; #Brazil becomes similar to Venezuela; #Finally the leftist dictatorship is established, like the Brazilian left wing parties 19 June 2018There is communism, there is socialism, and Brazil has created petism. It is such a disgusting, manipulative thing that is inexplicable how we can get along with people without any character 25 October 2018While describing the rise of antipetismo (the movement or sentiment against the party), Davis and Straubhaar (2019) examined the role of social media networks in spreading allegations and conspiracies of this kind. They see the role of liberal movements such as the Movimento Brasil Livre, which has outlived the recent right-wing surge.…”