Upsetting the Double Movement? Elite Schisms and Bolsonaro's Brazil in the Context of Global Authoritarian Capitalism

Abstract

The brazen political antics and mystifying logics accompanying the contemporary rise of authoritarianism have garnered much interest in academic and popular media. A key question is how to make sense of a politics that seems nonsensical? Using the example of Brazilian governance under Bolsonaro, we combine and build on elite studies, authoritarian neoliberalism, and the double movement literature to address this question. We argue for the conceptualisation of an “elite schism” where a “new elite” is emerging to obfuscate an increasingly co-constitutive and mutually destructive double movement. In defiance of well-established elite etiquette, many of these “new elites” demolish socioecological protections with reckless abandon. We then show how this development upsets double movement dynamics to argue that the contemporary authoritarian trend is part of a broader reshuffling of social relations as market expansion pushes societies closer to socioecological collapse. We conclude by highlighting potential opportunities for resistance.