Ideologies of Brazilian Political Thought

Abstract

This article proposes a mapping of the ideologies present in Brazilian political thought, replacing traditional approaches based on schools, lineages, or intellectual families with a typology centered on the concept of ideology. It argues that the main interpreters of Brazilian political ideas have tended to classify traditions through a dichotomy between idealism (as false) and realism (as true) − a distinction that is itself ideological. To avoid such reductions, the article adopts the perspective of political languages and ideologies as historically situated discursive constructions. The proposed mapping is based on three criteria: position on the political spectrum (right, center, left), intensity (moderate or radical), and geopolitical orientation (universalism or peripheral particularism). Based on these axes, the article identifies ten major ideologies in Brazil, including democratic liberalism, cosmopolitan socialism, statist conservatism, and fascism. The proposal seeks to overcome the recurrent notion that political ideas in Brazil are “out of place” and to offer an analytical framework for future research on the country’s political culture.