Workshop

Anti-gender discourses in contemporary Brazilian politics

Danillo Silva (Universidade Federal de Sergipe)

February 11, 2022, 17h00 (GMT)

Online

About

Presentation and Comments: Pablo Pérez Navarro (CES)


Background

At least since the last decade, liberal democracies around the world have experienced an intense neoconservative response to institutional, legal and legislative frameworks in the field of gender equality, sexual diversity and sexual and reproductive rights. In Brazil, the rise of the far-right to political power following the 2018 presidential elections has meant an intensification of the anti-gender offensive, especially as a result of its strategic co-optation by the ideological repertoire of Bolsonarism. This new stage of the offensive can be characterised by its passage from a state of social mobilisation - as occurred in public controversies such as those of the "gay kit" or the actions of movements like Escola Sem Partido - to the political structures and repertoire of the state itself. This movement of relative institutionalization of anti-gender policies has been particularly led by the then-created Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, led by the neo-Pentecostal pastor and anti-abortion activist Damares Alves.

The objective of this workshop is to analyse some of the main re-framings of senses mobilised by the Ministry with a view to incorporating an anti-gender discursive register to its legislative, technical and media production. More than suppressing or censoring the language of human rights, what is underway in Brazilian politics is the effectuation of a purifying reading on these rights, which aims to put into crisis the ballasts of meaning on which public human rights policies were gradually built in the country, especially those forged in the historical struggles for democracy spearheaded by feminist and LGBT social movements.   

 

Bio note 

Danillo Silva is a linguist, with a Masters Degree and a PhD candidate in Linguistic Studies at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), with a research internship at the Núcleo de Estudos em Discursos e Sociedade do Programa Interdisciplinar de Linguística Aplicada da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (NUDeS/PIPGLA/UFRJ). He is an expert in Gender and Human Rights at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Commission of the Brazilian Association of Linguistics (Abralin). Professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Alagoas (IFAL), Brazil. He is a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra (CES/UC). Author of articles and chapters in the social and anthropological strands of language studies, in 2019 he published the book Quando dizer é violentar: violência linguística e transfobia em comentários online  (Devires Publishing House). Currently, his research focuses on discourse, gender, sexuality, violence and politics.

______________________

This activity will be provided through Zoom platform and does not require registration. Participation is limited to the number of places available > https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89081086763?pwd=OU4vUGlEZHNhV1hSeVlCWXVOSEc3dz09 | ID: 890 8108 6763 | Senha: 068114

Please keep the microphone on mute until the discussion is open. The host may remove disruptive participants.

Open activities in digital format, such as this one, do not grant a declaration of participation. Such document will only be guaranteed in events with prior registration and regulated access.