Brazil’s Anti-Politics Election

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My Brazil election preview in Jacobin: https://jacobinmag.com/2018/09/brazil-election-bolsonaro-lula-haddad-boulos-corruption The election – and general political conjuncture – is polarized, fragmented, and corrupt. Here’s an excerpt on polarization: The election’s main polarization, then, is between the PT and Bolsonaro. To some it may look like a fight between two extremes. Bolsonaro poses as an authoritarian outsider who will wash … Continue reading Brazil’s Anti-Politics Election

The Meaning of Lula’s Imprisonment

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I have an article in Jacobin, discussing the narrow straits of Brazilian democracy (as per usual). The first part is my notes on the matter, reproduced below. The rest is a translation of a sharp and beautifully written analysis by Felipe Demier, originally published at Esquerda Online. This week, both sides of a polarized Brazil … Continue reading The Meaning of Lula’s Imprisonment

Political elite has lost grip, left can’t take advantage

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I was on The Real News this week discussing a(nother) mad week in Brazil. There are effectively four major threads to anti-corruption charges now, two against Temer/PMDB and two against Lula/PT. I won’t recap them here but instead tease out some deeper implications of what I said on the programme. (For a good summary, Stephanie Nolen … Continue reading Political elite has lost grip, left can’t take advantage