Strange fruit: The rise of Brazil’s ‘new right-wing’ and the Non-Partisan School Movement

Abstract

The new right-wing Brazilian Non-Partisan School Movement (in Portuguese, Escola Sem Partido, or ESP) was created in 2004 to denounce indoctrination in schools. It has, however, had greater repercussions via a strong presence on social media. The objective of this article is to analyse these discussions on Twitter. ESPs official discourse and theoretical discussions about the role of social networks supported this study. The content and network analyses of the tweets reveal the following relevant conclusions: the dissemination of content is much stronger than any discussion, on the part of both the new right wing and the left-wing partisans; there is a predominance of ESP supporters in a discussion that has characteristics of an anti-public sphere; communication between these two groups is weak; and the tone of the content spread by ESP supporters resonates with many features of president-elect Jair Bolsonaros communication style.

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.…”

“…Despite the increasing attention that the process of pernicious polarization in Brazil has received, discussions have largely overlooked the viewpoints of individuals who identify themselves as part of the right-wing. 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 et al., 2016).…”

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

“…Apesar da crescente atenção que o processo de polarização perniciosa no Brasil tem recebido, as discussões têm negligenciado, em grande parte, os pontos de vista dos indivíduos que se identificam como parte da direita. Há alguns trabalhos examinando o conteúdo de mídia produzido por esses indivíduos, particularmente por meio das redes sociais (por exemplo, Davis & Straubhaar, 2020;Romancini & Castilho, 2019;Zanini & Tatagiba, 2019), e levantamentos realizadas durante episódios de protesto (Ortellado et al, 2016). Poucos estudos (por exemplo, Barbieri, 2015;Rocha, 2019;Silva, 2016) abordaram diretamente as percepções e pontos de vista desses indivíduos.…”

A pesquisa de grupos de direita: questões éticas e metodológicas

“…É o caso da observação de espaços digitais abertos de uma organização neonazista sueca, por Askanius (2019), ou os grupos de Facebook de "vigilantes" conservadores da Tailândia (SCHAFFAR; THABCHUMPON, 2019). Em minha experiência, a partir de uma reflexão situada, cheguei a uma conclusão (mesmo sem conhecer essa proposta) similar sobre a pertinência ética de coletar conversações públicas no Twitter (que usavam hashtags) com temas da direita, ocultando a identidade dos indivíduos comuns (ROMANCINI, 2018;ROMANCINI;CASTILHO, 2019).…”