The Brazilian anti-statesman and the rhetoric of Bolsonaro’s heavy supporters

Abstract

This article analyzes the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the rhetorich of his hard supporters. It is argued that these supporters are a moral community, organized around a "rhetoric of reaction", (as Albert Hirshman has defined it), that is, a set of arguments on reaction to social or political changes, raised by those who understand the changes -in particular, the identity-based, egalitarian and democratic policies- as a threat to theirs own identity, beliefs and lifestyle. The Bolsonaro hard supporters reaction consists in reiterating patriotism as identity, the traditional family as the legitimate way of life and the violence as a resource of self-defense. It is a simple and fragmented rhetoric, but relying on modern forms of diffusion, and which cannot be explained by mere retrieval of old concepts, such as "neo-fascism".