The political form of negationism: a case study on Brazilian science post-2018

• Grant number: 21/02649-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2021
• End date: April 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: João dos Reis Silva Júnior
• Grantee: William Augusto Vicente
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project seeks to apprehend and analyze the context of the historical phenomenon that is negationism, focusing on the Brazilian situation after the 2018 presidential elections. Period in which different forms of negationism are being practiced and proliferated in society civil. Negationism as a historical element of humanity can be classified as a mistake of democracy or a strategic way of manipulating what is real. In the past, they tried to revise the meaning of the Holocaust through negationism, now too, but contemporary negationism appears more as a political form. That is, the negacionists operationalize their ideals as devices of manipulation of the mass that, consequently, form more negacionists. To this end, studying this phenomenon that for almost a century has hampered societal development worldwide, allows us to rationalize the contemporary conjuncture with classical negationism and provides us with an understanding of the political mechanism of negationism in Brazil. This fact has been contributing directly to the reframing of science, making it precarious and stigmatizing it. And, influencing COVID-19 deaths in the pandemic.