Protest Movements as Media Vehicles of the Brazilian New Right

‘McLean offers a gripping analysis of the mobilization and communication tactics of Brazil ’s New Right during a period of intense political ferment. Evaluating the New Right not solely as a political movement, but also as a media phenomenon, she highlights the hybrid role these new actors have adopted in recent Brazilian democratic politics, both as policy advocates and as propagandists.’

—Matthew Taylor, American University, USA

‘McLean has made an important contribution to our understanding of the contemporary Right in Brazil.’

—Ralph Newmark, The University of Melbourne, Australia

This book investigates right-wing populism in Brazil. It is a unique study of the major protest movements of the New Right that dominated the streets of São Paulo from 2014 to 2018 and acted as a prelude to Jair Bolsonaro’s election. Examining the populist rhetoric that circulated among the movements’ online followers, McLean reveals the formation of different right-wing publics and gives insight into the topics that have the greatest impact on public political debate. Through interviewing multiple activists and observing them at political events, McLean also exposes motivations for engaging in political action and demonstrates how the movements act as media vehicles of the New Right. Such an intimate study on the Brazilian New Right has never before been carried out in such in-depth detail. 

Nicole McLean holds a joint-PhD from The University of Melbourne and University of São Paulo. As part of her degree, she spent two years living and researching in São Paulo where she carried out ethnographic fieldwork during the election of Jair Bolsonaro. As such, Nicole was in Brazil during a critical period in recent Brazilian political history and has a sound understanding of the social, cultural and political contexts in which these phenomena took place.