A psychopoliticalanalysis of Brazilian fascismo

Abstract

Fascismexists as a specterofdemocracy. Germanfascismledtothedeathofhundredsofthousandsofpeople. Nazi concentrationcamps are not a flukeoffate, they are themaximofcapitalism. Capitalismat its maximumproducesconcentrationcampsandisunderwrittenby a deathpolicy. In its fascistmaxim, capitalismcreates a stateofabsoluteexceptionandmakesthemurderofentirepopulationsauthorized. Fascismissubjectivity, fascismis in theair. Braziltodayhasbecome a fascist country. Adherencetofascismoccurs, as Reich analyzed, becausetheeconomicsituationandtheideologicalsituationofthemasses do notnecessarily coincide. Politics, therefore, isnot a matterofrationalargumentation, but a circuitofaffections. The questionistoknowwhatkindofaffection moves andcreatesformsofpoliticallife, sincethestruggleisaboutformsoflife, as shownbyAgamben. The situationwe are experiencingisoneofeconomicandpoliticalcrisis, andtheseconditionstendtoproduce a situationofhelplessness, which leads peopletobeatthemercyofthemessianicpromise. Thus, fascistdiscoursewas (and still is) an appeal totheunconsciousthroughtechniquescapableofpromotingboththeidealizationof its leadersandtheparanoidsuspicionaboutothergroupsbytherecipients. Some elementscharacterizethefascistrise: the face usedtorepresenttheleader must appearcomical, a mixtureofmilitaryand clown; thecultofviolence; a political-economicdiscourse, oftheresurrectionState-Nation, in its paranoidversion; andthe moral-cultural discourse, ofthevalues ofthefamilyinstitution. The non-elaborationofthe traumas ofBrazil'spastbrought its sleepingmonsterstothesurface, as a returnoftherepressed, andestablishedfascism, whichhadbeen in theshade for years, in everydaylife.