The right-wing is not only gaining strength in Brazil’s political scene, but also in Europe and North America. That shows that it isn’t just an isolated occurrence, but a worldwide phenomenon. Is there a specific theory behind it?
Left or right?
To begin this article, let’s define what it means to be a leftist or a rightist by going back to 1789, in France.
It all started with a question: How much power must the king have? At that time, the French Revolution roared in the streets, and after the storming of the Bastille, the National Assembly – as the revolution’s government – had to come up with a new Constitution. As a part of that process, it had to be decided how much power the king would have.
The ones who defended that the king should maintain his power and have the right to an absolute veto, seated by his right side at the assembly. And the revolutionaries, who wanted radical order changes, sat on the king’s left side, defining the right-wing as conservative and the left-wing as progressive.
Nowadays, in Brazil, leftists are associated with the political party known as PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores), mainly represented by Lula, which is strongly linked with corruption scandals. And rightists are associated with Jair Bolsonaro, defined by his famous slogan “family, God and homeland”, mostly spreading hate speech and fake news.
Brazil’s political scenario is much bigger than just these two pessimist representations, still, they exist as some sort of culture among the citizens, who, even if not deeply engaged in politics, love to express their opinions through memes.
Economic insecurity
According to Eduardo Schiavoni, journalist and lawyer specializing in administrative and constitutional law, the economy may be a determining factor in transforming the rise of the right-wing into a cyclical occurrence, as it’s always falsely promised quick solutions:
“It should be noted that the right-wing traditionally tends to rise during periods of economic crisis and unemployment. The argument was created that by reducing workers’ rights and strongly encouraging the free market, this political vision would be able to offer quicker responses to the crisis.”
In Brazil, historically accompanied by corruption polemics, this statement makes a lot of sense, given that the main rightist’s combative argument against the left-wing is anti-corruption.
In Europe, though, another problem surges up. Besides the backlash against growing feminism and loss of historical male privilege, men are being manipulated by far-right parties that capitalize on financial insecurity to trigger traditional masculinity markers like homeownership, employment, and provider roles, luring them into conservative ideals that correlate to the rise of right-wing ideology – even if not exclusively – as Schiavoni exemplifies:
“It has to be said that conservatism is not necessarily synonymous with right-wing leaning ideology. It means a more traditionalist view of the world, in terms of customs, which can be perfectly combined with a political view of greater state intervention, for example.”
This phenomenon, which is happening in European countries, is accompanied by entrepreneurship discourses from right-wing Brazilian politicians, like Pablo Marçal, who grew exponentially popular in the 2024 elections. In this particular case, besides acting in politics, Marçal is also a coach, apparently a new occupation trend in Brazil, who often preaches about masculinity, anti-feminism, entrepreneurship, and other topics on which he claims to be an expert.
Politicians as social media trends
Another strategy, which wasn’t as smooth as politicians thought, is to reach the younger generation through social media with memes, trends, and even thirst traps, yes, you read that right. The language is adapted, the humor is similar, and therefore, politics becomes trivialized.
Gone are the days when progressivism and conservatism were defined by age. Gen Z has been getting a lot of attention in the global political scenario, given that they’re responsible for the increase in right-wing votes. To win the generational battle that often portrays Gen Z as rebellious and progressive, social media might have the power to change this traditional structure.
While winning voters with charisma and funny posts, politicians can cast a forgetting spell on people, as they forget about their hate speeches and crimes. A perfect example is Nikolas Ferreira – a young conservative right-wing politician who has been getting media attention lately – that is always making transphobic comments. Even so, his followers keep saying things like “I don’t get why people hate him” or “We love you, Nik!”.
Even when people try to ridicule politicians, they’re actually contributing to their fame, engagement, and popularity. And TikTok especially operates in recreating content on your For You page through the algorithm, so a person who receives right-wing content is very unlikely to sympathize with the opposite side.
Politics x Religion
In Brazil, one of the main causes that, not exclusively, helps right-wing empowerment is religion. Especially the rise of evangelicals.
Since the country’s colonization and evangelization in 1500, religion – more specifically Protestantism – has become a strongly rooted element in every Brazilian sphere, but mainly politics. This is most clearly exemplified by the evangelical bench in the government, commonly discussed as a threat to a secular state.
Their influence in politics is evident in their association with conservative and controversial declarations against women’s rights, abortion, native people, and workers’ rights, topics usually defended by leftists. But again, these are not exclusive and determinative characteristics, as the association between religion and politics has a lot of ideological diversity. Even so, the most relevant and representative portion ends up reinforcing their stereotyped popularity.
The economy, so present in right-wing discourse, is also linked to Neopentecostal institutions, as Schiavoni recognizes: “The evangelical branch, especially the neo-Pentecostals, is heavily influenced by social inequality, yes. That hasn’t changed. Most of the people who propagate this type of religion are people from social classes C, D, and E, and with greater possibilities of direction, even political ones.”
Religion can be a powerful tool in politics, being used as a strategy to sympathize with voters through their faith, like the opposition between Lula’s “Letter to evangelicals”, and Jair Bolsonaro and Michelle Bolsonaro preaching about “Dominion Theology” and “Prosperity Theology”.
Speech’s disorganization
Not only are right-wing parties getting famous on social media and charismatic through religion, but they are also taking over the streets as well.
Brazilian streets were symbolically monopolized by leftists with their well-known protests back in the 80s. Nowadays, the tables have turned, and right-wing organizations surpass left-wing crowds by thousands of people – like Bolsonaro’s “Amnesty” parade, which brought over 18.3 thousand people to the streets compared to Lula’s “No Amnesty” parade with 6.5 thousand.
Left-wing parties need to step up their game and adapt their discourse and unite all branches as a whole, instead of camouflaging themselves among centrist politicians to gain enough power to combat rightists. This only turns politics into an eternal war, dissociating from what truly matters: the genuine and careful involvement with their voters and citizens, to truly listen to what they need and take action into their own hands to make that happen, to bring back the passion against conservative oppression.
Communication is key, whether in a relationship or politics. People miss that sense of connection with the government – they miss the feeling that the governors are with them, not merely for them. The left-wing’s inability to bring workers together with the empowerment of minorities is weakening their influence.
In conclusion, the capitalism crisis exposes the world to uncertainty, and consequently resorts to remediation rather than revolution – something that right-wing has learned to master. They’ve adapted to modern platforms and persuasive language, that leftists need to catch up with.
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The article above was edited by Maryanna Arison.
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