2019/12/16 by Carlos Figueiredo
Social Sciences · #Political theory and Gramsci #Social Media and Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.7275/democratic-communique.1695
openalex publication_date 2019/12/16 · openalex created_date 2020/03/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
This paper analyzes the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by social movements in Brazil, especially during the 2018 presidential elections won by Far Right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. I argue that techno-deterministic behavior of Brazilian leftist groups contributed to Jair Bolsonaro's victory. A broader analysis of Brazilian crisis of hegemony is made to understand the context in which social movements and digital activists act. I also criticize the concept of tactical media from a Gramscian approach. Brazilian digital activists abandoned tactical use of social media made in June 2013’s demonstrations and acted guided from a techno-deterministic belief in ICT powers. That way, those activists end up letting their political actions follow an algorithmic logic that we call encoded activism.