"Bolsonarism is expanding more and more beyond Bolsonaro." That's how philosopher, researcher, and writer Rodrigo Nunes summarizes the process ofRooting of the Far RightIn Brazil, author of "O transe e a vertigem" (The Trance and Vertigo), Nunes assesses that even if the president wins, the country is facing a deep political and economic crisis.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)The only thing the left will "be able to hold on to is the presidency," he said, citing how the Congress has been populated by prominent conservatives since 2018.
"The political movements of the last decade are heading towards the extremes," he summarizes, noting that the June 2013 protests marked the beginning of a diffuse mobilization with various agendas and leaders, which paved the way for the election of Jair Bolsonaro.
The movement experienced in Brazil, in different contexts, was occurring in other parts of the world, largely due to a crisis of neoliberalism, which began to manifest itself as early as 2008. "To a great extent, the rise of the extreme right, which we start to observe precisely from 2016, has two milestones: Brexit and Trump's first election," he notes.
For him, Bolsonarism has solidified as "a cross-class social force" that does not depend on a single individual. "The fact that it's Bolsonaro is relatively contingent. It just happened that he was the right person in the right place," he opines.
Rodrigo Nunes reinforces that the main agenda of Bolsonarism is the STF. Moreover, he observes a depletion of the progressive field and the emergence of conservative leaderships in tow with Bolsonarism. "Lula is the greatest leader in the country's recent political history, running against a very weak candidate and might lose. That gives the real dimension of what's happening. The right has potential candidates to win elections until 2070. The left doesn't," he points out. "2030 starts on January 1, 2027. That means not only is succession planning necessary, but building a new social base, one that isn't just the memory of the first two Lula governments," he considers.
Economy of Attention
Nunes also assesses that the extreme right has gained traction with the growth of digital platforms, where it finds echo and propulsion in what is known as the "economy of attention."
"The extreme right has become a career as well, a professional career for many. Adhering to extreme right-wing ideology offers the possibility of a career as an influencer or political entrepreneur who turns their attention capital, their media capital into political and economic capital, simultaneously through the monetization of YouTube channels, Instagram profiles, and the sale of speeches and products," the philosopher points out.
He evaluates that the right is moving further to the extreme and is correct in this decision to occupy this space, as it has found convergence. On the other hand, Rodrigo Nunes observes that the left is moving towards the center, when it should tension the political spectrum in the opposite direction and make it clear that "there are two very different options here."
"So, for a long time, since the beginning of the decade, I have been advocating that the left-wing movement needs to go further to the left, not towards the center, as unfortunately, the Brazilian left, the hegemonic field of the Brazilian left, has been doing during the same period," he criticizes.
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