Two Carl Schmitt's readers in Brazil: Francisco Campos and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda

Abstract

This article's central question is to interpret Carl Schmitt's influence on Francisco Campos and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda. The work presents direct and interpretative evidence that demonstrates such influence. The receptions are different, but there is notable proximity: the appreciation of personalism in politics and the proximity to a project of plebiscitary democracy. The article argues that this common reference helps to locate the authors in the national intellectual context of the beginning of the 20th century. In the case of Campos, it explains significant differences between him and the authoritarian intellectuals of the period. In the case of Holanda, it does the opposite: it shows his proximity to the anti-liberal criticism of the First Republic.