Protesting Democracy in Brazil

by Alexander S. Dent and Rosana Pinheiro-Machado

What exactly happened in Brazil during June and July, 2013? What started as a protest over an increase in bus fares grew into something much larger, with rallies and protests occurring in major cities all over the country. The question of how to understand these events is of interest to scholars, onlookers, comedians, journalists, participants, and voters in Brazil and around the world, and it resides at the well-established intersection of anthropology and history. The pieces we include in this Hot Spot series, written by anthropologists, activists, and writers across several generations, aim to answer this question. As they attempt to do so, the authors are aware that they are opening up new questions not only in the anthropology of Brazil and/or Brazilian anthropology, but also in the understanding of social movements, mediation, and policing writ large.

The series editors, Alex S. Dent and Rosana Pinheiro-Machado, provide an introductory editorial. The first five essays—by Ruben George Oliven, Otávio Velho, Aaron Ansell, Carmen Rial, and John Collins—discuss Brazilian society and the protests in June. The next two—by Pablo Ortellado and Claudio Lomitz—reflect on transportation and democracy. Following essays—by Luiz Eduardo Soares, Susana Durão, and Roberto Kant de Lima and Lenin Pires—discuss violence, the police, and the state in Brazil. An interview between Lenin Pieres and Lieutenant Colonel Nádia Rodrigues Silveira Gerhard of the Military Police Brigade of Rio Grande do Sul follows. Four essays—by Juliano Spyer, Marcelo Casteñeda, Anelise dos Santos Gutterres, and Elizete Ignácio—provide reports from the streets and social networks. Finally, the last four essays—by Reijane Pinheiro and Wilmar Xerente, Cristian Jobi Salaini and Ubirajara Toledo, Luisa Geisler, and Rosana Pinheiro-Machado and Alex S. Dent—explore Brazilian the demands made by Brazilian civil society.
Cover image: “Revolt of the bus,” Salvador, Bahia. Photo by Marcelo de Troi.

Posts in This Series

The Protests in Brazil

by Alexander S. Dent and Rosana Pinheiro-Machado

Taking to the Streets of Brazil

by Ruben George Oliven

Protests in Brazil

by Otávio Velho

The Vinegar Revolts and the Diverse Faces of Democracy in Brazil

by Aaron Ansell

“Taking to the streets”: Brazilian Demonstrations in the Twenty-First Century

by Carmen Rial

Of Protests and Potato Chips

by John Collins

On Processes and Outcomes: Remarks on the Brazilian Protests of June, 2013, and Other Experiences of “New Movements”

by Pablo Ortellado

Long Live the Free Pass Movement

by Claudio Lomnitz

Zero Hour on the Popular Clock

by Luiz Eduardo Soares

Is Nonviolent Policing Possible in Brazil?

by Susana Durão

The "Vandal" and the Warrior Policeman: The Difficult Relation between Directed Social Changes and Conflicts Management Strategies

by Roberto Kant da Lima, and Lenin Pires

Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Nadia Rodrigues Silveira Gerhard

by Nadia Rodrigues Silveira Gerhard and Lenin Pires

An Ethnographic Account of the Riots in Brazil Seen From the Periphery

by Juliano Spyer

Protests in Rio de Janeiro: Socio-Technical Overlap between “Networks” and the Streets

by Marcelo Castañeda

An Intimate Account of the Political Protests in Rio de Janeiro

by Anelise dos Santos Gutterres

How a Protestor, Interviewer, Anthropologist, and Businesswoman Perceived the Demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro

by Elizete Ignácio

The Indians Who Never Slept: The Indigenous from Tocantins (North Of Brazil) and the Protests of June

by Reijane Pinheiro da Silva and Wilmar Xerente

Demonstrations and the Quilombola Cause: New Protests for Old Claims

by Cristian Jobi Salaini and Ubirajara Toledo

The End of Silence: Slut Walk and the June Movements

by Luisa Geisler

Paradoxes of Development: Why Now?

by Rosana Pinheiro-Machado and Alexander S. Dent