“Não sorria. Estamos em guerra”: política do medo, imaginário autoritário e bolsonarismo no Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This thesis seeks to examine, from a socio-historical point of view, how fear is used by the extreme right to strengthen itself as a political field and justify authoritarian practices. Fear is understood as an ambivalent political affect, which is expressed as a dynamic vector for the constitution of social bonds, as well as forming a process of authoritarian subjectivation, which legitimizes sociopolitical exclusions and animosities. The theoretical discussions and empirical research of the thesis seek to analyze the devices and vectors that produce fear as a socio-existential anchor. To this end, a broad “covert observation” was carried out over three years in WhatsApp groups supporting Jair Bolsonaro, in addition to daily monitoring of the Bolsonarist camp at the Palácio Duque de Caxias headquarters. The thesis articulates a borderline debate between social theory, philosophy, psychoanalysis and urban sociology, which, with empirical support, comprehensively discusses the politics of fear as a driver of the Bolsonarism phenomenon, in its various facets, from the contemporary context of Brazil and, more specifically, of Rio de Janeiro. The research results suggest outputs that affect subjects in a predicative way, distrust of established images and aesthetics and social ties anchored in community ties – in opposition to the rationality of fear. There is also a profound relationship between the politics of fear and contemporary societal trends, such as the sense of urgency, digitization and individualization.