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Marielle’s seeds: Contesting the emotional life of corruption talk in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

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  • Jennifer L Tucker
  • Thainara Granero de Melo

Abstract

In this paper, we argue the emotional life of corruption narratives underwrite the rise of the extreme Right in Brazil. Further, we argue that the talk of corruption is pervasive, polysemic, contested, racialized and emotional. It is deeply entwined with social struggles over the form, content and ends of political life. Drawing on this perspective, we analyze discourses of corruption in the wake of a seismic corruption scandal, Operation Lava Jato. We identify two competing narratives of corruption. The hegemonic form uses emotions to create political enemies, promote anti-Black punitivism and uphold social hierarchies. In contrast, a counternarrative of corruption rooted in Black feminist epistemology centers racialized spatial inequality as Brazil’s central challenge and offers pathways to reclaim political life from punitive neoliberalism. We contribute by specifying how the emotional life of corruption talk helps build support for Jair Bolsonaro’s cross-class project of revanchist populism. Ultimately, we argue that the Right has successfully mobilized corruption talk in the service of necropolitics.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer L Tucker & Thainara Granero de Melo, 2024. "Marielle’s seeds: Contesting the emotional life of corruption talk in Bolsonaro’s Brazil," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 42(4), pages 544-562, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:42:y:2024:i:4:p:544-562
    DOI: 10.1177/23996544231156613
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hun Kim, 2020. "Corruption as Infrastructure: Rendering the New Saigon Global," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1057-1071, November.
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