Bolsonaro in Power: Failed Memory Politics in Post-Authoritarian Brazil?

Abstract

This brief chapter offers some first reflections on the nexus between what is now being construed as a ‘failed’ memory politics in Brazil and the recent mass support for a figure who enthuses about human rights violations. It asks: Where did memory politics ‘fail’ and to what extent can this explain Bolsonaro’s rise? Is the Bolsonaro government successfully dismantling a supposed ‘post-authoritarian human rights culture’ or ‘collective memory’, and what kind of resistance does he face? The chapter answers these questions in three steps. It first outlines Bolsonaro’s views on past violence. It then summarises key post-1985 memory initiatives in order to, thirdly, examine both how the Bolsonaro government is trying to dismantle existing human rights and memory institutions, and who the actors are that resist these political initiatives.