Brazilian publishing dynamics and the rise of right-wing movements (2005-2022)

• Grant number: 25/04140-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Rúrion Soares Melo
• Grantee: Anna Thiemy Takata
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/22387-0 - Crises of democracy: critical theory and the diagnosis of present time, AP.TEM

Abstract

This research project is part of the thematic project Crises of Democracy: Critical Theory and Diagnosis of the Present Time - as part of subproject II. In this research, we analyze the period from 2005 - with the Mensalão Scandal and the initial configuration of the new right wing - to 2022 - with the end of Jair Bolsonaro's presidential term. In the first phase of this research, conducted by master's student José Del Ben Neto, we carried out a bibliographical review of the concept of ideology, selecting the most influential Brazilian works on the new right - through a process of theoretical sampling, consolidating the analytical corpus of this study. From now on, we will make a methodological effort to analyze the twelve previously selected works, using discourse analysis techniques and a cross-sectional review of their context, to answer how the content of the corpus contributed to the literacy process of the new right in Brazil. And what socio-political mechanisms and practices can be identified in this corpus? Between 2005 and 2006, groups of young university students and liberal professionals - made up of supporters of neoliberal and conservative agendas - began meeting in forums and virtual communities to translate, share, and discuss abstract concepts and theories (Rocha, 2021, p. 99). They constructed shared languages, meanings, and worldviews, creating a political grammar that united them through a common identity. Diverse groups, dissatisfied with the current political system, began to unite to combat the "leftist cultural hegemony" (Rocha, 2021, p. 20), gradually consolidating the new Brazilian right. This research proposal investigates the literacy process of this group, analyzing the collective construction of values and concepts through the appropriation of literary content. Therefore, we will study the political-editorial phenomenon in terms of the variety of titles, the number of print runs and sales, and the content between 2005 and 2022.