The rhetoric of the Brazilian far-right, built in the streets: The case of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article is an ethnographic exploration of the construction of far-right rhetoric in Brazil. It begins with a description of events on the final day of the 2018 election, when Jair Messias Bolsonaro won the presidency. To contextualise this scene, I analyse how far-right rhetoric was articulated in the Brazilian public sphere from June 2013 until 2018, specifically in the state of Rio de Janeiro, through a series of key events that were fundamental in constructing far-right identity claims and collective mobilisation into an anti-corruption and militarised rhetoric in the electoral campaign. The article shows the importance of these specific events in developing what became the ‘Bolsonarist rhetoric’—or Bolsonarismo—as part of a broader international politics of disaffection.