On the tightrope of the self: a snapshot of the bolsonarista phenomenon under the aegis of mass movement

Abstract

This article proposes a bibliographical section about socio-historical passages with repercussions related to authoritarian mass movements, glimpsed by Freud in “Psychology of the Masses and Analysis of the Self” (1921/2011) and Adorno & Horkheimer in “Dialectics of Enlightenment”, chapter “Elements of Anti-Semitism: limits of enlightenment”, Aphorism VI (1969), as well as its possible approaches to Jair Bolsonaro’s government policy between 2018 and 2022. This proposal becomes achievable based on the tension of government speeches and practices in force between 2018 and 2022 and its supporters, considering the possible relationship between such speeches and the promotion of science denial, the dissemination of conspiratorial ideas and the rhetoric of internal and external enemies. To this end, it was necessary to examine, through specific theoretical references, how technological administration can influence the process of rational formation of the subject through the possible relationship between media aspects and the alienating potential of the concept of “post-truth” within the context of current Brazilian society. The research carried out does not aim to conclude the understanding of the Bolsonarist phenomenon, but to indicate possible articulations to be considered in its study, so that it may cause discomfort to those who read it in order to motivate inquiries, propositions, questions and further investigation of the phenomenon.