Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

CATHOLIC ULTRACONSERVATISM: A MIMESIS OF THE MECHANISMS ERODING THE BRAZILIAN DEMOCRACY

Abstract

This study hypothesizes the existence of a certain performatic approximation between Bolsonarism and Catholic ultraconservatism, an affinity that reinforces mechanisms of institutional undemocratization. Our argument focuses on the conflict around the 2021 Campanha Ecumênica da Fraternidade (Ecumenical Brotherhood Campaign, organized by the National Council of Churches), when the Dom Bosco Cultural Center challenges the authority of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops by launching a countercampaign. What mechanisms and content were used to delegitimize the initiative and these religious institutions? What content and performance resemble the Bolsonarist phenomenon and that of the international extreme right? How much does this episode reflect other types of threats and violence to progressive sectors in the last years in Brazil? What novelty does the Christian, Catholic, and Evangelical right movements offer regarding religion and politics? What theoretical and political challenges does this case offer us to evaluate the decline of democracy in the country? The construction of a corpus of netnographic evidence and the analysis of media productions that circulated in social media support our reflection.

Keywords:
Democracy; Ultraconservatism; Catholic Church; Radical Right; Religion-Politics

CEDEC Centro de Estudos de Cultura Contemporânea - CEDEC, Rua Riachuelo, 217 - conjunto 42 - 4°. Andar - Sé, 01007-000 São Paulo, SP - Brasil, Telefones: (55 11) 3871.2966 - Ramal 22 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: luanova@cedec.org.br