Brazilian Authoritarianism - by Lilia Moritz Schwarcz (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book, written in the aftermath of the 2018 election of the right-wing populist politician Jair Bolsonaro, is a historically-grounded analysis of authoritarianism in Brazil. In the tradition of Zola's J'accuse, Lilia Schwarcz takes up and debunks the popular and cherished national myth of Brazil as a tolerant, open, peaceful, and racially-harmonious society. In that country's history textbooks even Brazil's centuries of slavery have been described as an ultimately benign, paternalistic order in which the races freely mixed and the cruelty of the U.S. slave experience was absent. This, Schwarcz argues, papers over centuries of racially-motivated violence, cruelty, and exploitation. These centuries of slavery under colonial and monarchical rule have left their indelible mark and are at the origins of the structural racism and oppression experienced today by Brazil's black and indigenous peoples. The book outlines the roots of Brazil's contemporary authoritarian oppression of these peoples and paints a vivid portrait of just how dire the situation is at present. Schwarcz's account also details the series of events leading to the 2018 election, demonstrating how Brazil's historical legacy of slavery and inequality, despite an appearance of democracy and tolerance, enabled the defeat of the country's social democratic left and the ascendancy of Bolsonaro's far right political movement. Schwarcz also calls on Brazilian intellectuals to play a role in combatting authoritarian oppression in their country"--

Book Synopsis

How Brazil's long history of racism and authoritarian politics has led to the country's present crises and epidemic of violence

Brazil has long nurtured a cherished national myth, one of a tolerant, peaceful, and racially harmonious society. A closer look at the nation's heritage, however, reveals a far more troubling story. In Brazilian Authoritarianism, esteemed anthropologist and historian Lilia Schwarcz presents a provocative and panoramic overview of Brazilian culture and history to demonstrate how the nation has always been staunchly authoritarian. It has papered over centuries of racially motivated cruelty and exploitation--sources of the structural oppression experienced today by its Black and Indigenous population. Linking the country's violent past to its dire present, Schwarcz shows why the social democratic left was defeated and how Jair Bolsonaro ascended to the presidency.

Schwarcz travels through five hundred years of colonial history to consider Brazil's allegiance to slavery, which made it the last country to abolish the system. She delves into eight elements that pervade Brazil's problematic culture: racism, bossism, patrimonialism, corruption, inequality, violence, gender issues, and intolerance. But Schwarcz also argues that Brazil's future is not absolutely hopeless. History is not destiny, and even as the nation experiences its worst crises ever--social, political, moral, and environmental--it has the potential to overcome them.

A stark, revealing investigation into Brazil's difficult roots, Brazilian Authoritarianism shines a light on how the country might imagine a more hopeful path forward.

About the Author

Lilia Moritz Schwarcz is professor of anthropology at the University of São Paulo and visiting professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Princeton University. Her books include The Spectacle of Races (Hill and Wang) and Brazil: A Biography (Picador). Twitter @LiliaSchwarcz Instagram @liliaschwarcz Eric M. B. Becker, a prolific translator from Portuguese, has been a finalist for the PEN Translation Prize. He is digital director and senior editor at the international literary journal Words Without Borders.