https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6951-5094
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Abstract
Inspired by the Studies on authoritarian personality and based on contemporary research on authoritarianism in Brazil, we will analyze the construction of the idol aura surrounding former president Bolsonaro, which allowed the far right to be elected and remain in power until the last elections in 2022. We see his rise as mostly due to the digital violence that largely benefited his campaign and was directed against the block of left-wing candidates. So as to clarify this issue, we will revisit the sociohistorical and psycho-political fundamentals of the antidemocratic and ethnocentric behaviors spurred by that leadership that became idolized. We will also outline an emancipatory, antiracist, culturally relevant and decolonial education, as a way to provide what Adorno regarded as being the antidote to the reemergence of a regressive barbarism. In the case of Brazil, barbarism refers to the remnants of the slave system implemented in the country for three and a half centuries, whose destructive potential was awakened under Bolsonaro’s government, given the latent antidemocratic and authoritarian tendencies in our society.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Quilomba populations consist of the descendants and remnants of the communities established by runaway slaves (quilombo settlements) between the 16th Century and 1888 (year in which slavery was abolished in Brazil).
2 Olavo de Carvalho died on 01/24/2022 from the very same disease he denied and actively collaborated to the dissemination of denialism in Brazil - COVID-19.
3 These are being replaced by Telegram, which has reached about 2/3 of the smartphones in Brazil and, for not responding to the demands from governments in favor of “freedom of speech”, not even those from the Supreme Court in the country, they left no other choice but to be blocked, measure that has been cogitated by the Supreme Court as a result of the rampant advance of those Internet services in a globalized world and the possibility of spreading Fake News during the 2022 election process, when majority elections were held.
4 This work was the result of an extensive interdisciplinary research on latent fascism in the North American society, conducted by Adorno between 1944 and 1947 at the University of California in Berkeley and published in 1950.
5 This is a series of conferences given by Theodor Adorno and the transcription of four interviews carried out with the philosopher by Hellmut Becker and Gerd Kadelbache, broadcast on Hessen Radio, in Germany, between 1959 and 1969, as part of the “Educational questions of today” series, which was published in Brazil, under the title: Education and emancipation (Adorno, Citation2008).
6 Law that made teaching African and African Brazilian Culture history mandatory throughout basic education.
7 Law that endorsed Law 10639/03 and added the mandatory teaching of indigenous cultures.
8 PL 2630/2020 is a bill aimed at guaranteeing Internet Freedom, Responsibility and Transparency that was approved by the Senate but it is still pending processing by the Chamber of Deputies.
9 Secretaria de Comunicação Social da Presidência da República (Secom) [Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic], in partnership with UNESCO, recently released a bid notice to consulting companies for that purpose.
10 Retrato Narrado is a Podcast (Available on Spotify) produced by Rádio Novelo in partnership with Revista Piauí, BR, 2020.
11 On this podcast, journalist Letícia Duarte plays the audios she recorded in interviews with Olavo de Carvalho, seen as the far-right guru in Brazil, who had a strong influence on Jair Bolsonaro’s government.
12 Term created from the “Myth” word by Bolsonaro’s followers.
13 One cannot neglect the fact that Bolsonaro managed to mobilize more than 30% of the Brazilian electorate when he was elected in 2018 and even when defeated, in 2022, he won almost 50% of the votes.
14 A strategy to meet the recommendations of the “Conferência Mundial sobre Educação para todos” [World Conference on Education for All] (Jomtien-Thailand, 1990). Available at: https://www.unicef.org/brazil/declaracao-mundial-sobre-educacao-para-todos-conferencia-de-jomtien-1990. Accessed on: 12/31/2023.
15 Senator Eliziane Gama (PSD-MA), president of the 08/01Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito (CPMI) [Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry], presented on 17th October 2023 the result of the commission’s work and asked that criminal charges be filed against 61 people, particularly those close to Jair Bolsonaro, as well as against the former president himself, for “decisively contributing to the outcome of the events occurred on January 8th, 2023. Available at: https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politica/bolsonaro-zambelli-militares-veja-a-lista-de-indiciamentos-pedidos-pela-cpmi-do-8-1/. Accessed on: 12/25/2023.
16 About R$ 27.7 billion were destined to military personnel until the end of his term of office in 2022, in the midst of a government financial crisis. At: https://www.cartacapital.com.br/politica/sob-bolsonaro-beneficios-a-militares-e-policiais-vao-custar-r-277-bi-ate-2022/. Accessed on: 12/22/2023.
17 They were responsible for the murders of British journalist Dom Philips and indigenist Bruno Pereira in the far west of the Amazon region in June 2022, in Vale do Javari, where they intended to interview indigenous and riverside populations to write a book about the Amazon.
18 In the midst of the 2013 demonstrations, the Movimento Brasil Livre – MBL was created as part of the American “Students for Liberty” and characterized as a right-wing movement, according to Marina Amaral (Citation2016), journalist, co-founder and co-director of the Agência Pública de Jornalismo Investigativo.
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Notes on contributors
Mônica Guimarães Teixeira do Amaral
Mônica Guimarães Teixeira do Amaral, Senior Researcher, PhD in Psychology (IPUSP, 1995) and Professor at the Post-Graduate Program in Education in the areas of Psychoanalysis, Philosophy and Education at the Education College of University of São Paulo (FEUSP). She was Visiting Scholar at the Program in Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017. She published the books: O espectro de Narciso na modernidade: de Freud a Adorno [The Specter of Narcissus in Modernity: From Freud to Adorno] (Estação Liberdade/FAPESP, 1997) and O que o rap diz e a escola contradiz: um estudo sobre a arte de rua e a formação da juventude na periferia de São Paulo [What rap says and the school contradicts: a study on street art and the formation of youth in the outskirts of São Paulo] (Alameda/FAPESP, 2016). Coordinated the research: Ancestral and contemporary in schools: recognition and affirmation of Afro-Brazilian histories and cultures (FAPESP: 2015/2018). Organized the book: Culturas ancestrais e contemporâneas na escola: novas estratégias didáticas para a implementação da Lei 10639/2003 [Ancestral and contemporary cultures in school: new didactic strategies for the implementation of Law 10.639/2003] (Alameda/CAPES, 2018). Currently, she is the coordinator of the national research: Shared teaching, continuing education and Law 10.639/03: the role of urban cultures in public schools in different peripheral regions, with the support of a national agency - Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPQ). She also coordinates the research group at the Diretório do CNPq: Grupo de estudos e pesquisas Educação e Afroperspectivas [CNPq Directory: Study and Research Group Education and Afroperspectives]. Site of the Research Group: https://www.afroperspectivas.com.br/.
Marina Pereira de Almeida Mello
Marina Pereira de Almeida Mello, Adjunct Professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), holds a PhD in Anthropology from USP, and a postdoctoral degree in Post-colonialism and global citizenship from the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra; holds Bachelor’s, Master’s and Licentiate degrees in History from the University of São Paulo (USP). Currently, she is the coordinator of the Human Rights and Social Struggles Course at CAAF/Unifesp - Center for Anthropology and Forensic Archeology at the Federal University of São Paulo.
Maria da Glória Calado
Maria da Glória Calado, Post-doctoral researcher at the School of Education at the University of São Paulo (FEUSP), since 2019. She is also a researcher member of the national research: Shared teaching, continuing education and Law 10.639/03: the role of urban cultures in public schools in different peripheral regions, with the support of a national agency - Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPQ). And part of the research group at the Diretório do CNPq: Grupo de estudos e pesquisas Educação e Afroperspectivas [CNPq Directory: Study and Research Group Education and Afroperspectives]. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of São Paulo - USP (2013), a master’s degree in Psychology from Universidade São Marcos (2007) and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from São Marcos University (1987). She is an educator, psychologist, researcher in the field of education and racial-ethnic relations at school. Currently, she is a professor at Senac University Center, invited professor in the graduate courses at the Center for Latin American Studies on Culture and Communication (CELACC-USP), clinical psychologist and volunteer psychologist at the Center for Human Rights Center (CDHS) located in Sapopemba, São Paulo, Brazil, and participant in the Racial Relations nucleus of the Regional of the Regional Council of Psychology of São Paulo (CRP-SP).