Social movements and gender protests under the far right in Brazil: backfire dynamics and transformations in activism

Abstract

This article analyzes the backfire dynamics of feminist and women’s movements in Brazil, understood as public reactions of indignation in response to repressive strategies by the far right, in the context of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and the Temer and Bolsonaro governments. The objective is to understand how repressive events involving authorities trigger backfire reactions and their consequences for activism. To this end, the study employs Protest Event Analysis of media reports and interviews with activists and women’s council members, examining protests that occurred between 2015 and 2022. The results show that repressive events carried out by the far right triggered reactions of indignation capable of producing transformations in social movements. The article concludes that these dynamics affected mobilizations, repertoires of action, and gender frames, highlighting processes of transformation in feminist activism amid the rise of the far right.