Communicative Practices of the Free Brazil Movement in Social Media Networks and Their Consequent Appropriations by Political Candidates in the 2018
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Westminster
Department Name: Westminster Sch of Media & Communication
Abstract
The main objective of this research is to develop an empirical understanding of the discursive practices of a social movement in social networks and to analyse how this was used in the 2018 elections. This project seeks to describe and analyse the communicative practices of the Free Brazil Movement (MBL) and the consequent appropriation of these practices by candidates elected in the last Brazilian presidential election.
Several groups involved in the national political debate and in social movements have appeared in Brazil since the June 2013 Days (JJ13), one of which is the MBL, "a non-profit organization aiming to mobilize citizens for a freer, fair and prosperous society and stand for Democracy, Republic, Freedom of Expression and the Press, Free Market, the Reduction of State and Bureaucracy." Many of the most voted politicians in the 2018 elections gained notoriety due to their intensive use of social networks and their involvement in these mobilizations. An illustration of this is the expressive number of votes received by Kim Kataguiri, one of the MBL coordinators, who won the position of Congressman. The concept of a social movement, before the beginning of the twentieth century, was only considered as the action of workers in unions. Academics from different areas
point to a re-orientation of the collective action, the different types of which are classified by theoretical categories into which contemporary social actors no longer fit (Touraine, 2003). The feminist movement, for example, sparked a review of gender hierarchy and politicized the domestic space (Hall, 2003). It should also be noted that the importance of understanding these movements in their processes of formation, dynamics, values and
perspectives of social transformation, highlighting the role of communication in the process of sharing the meaning and exchange of information (Castells, 2013). Such researchers as Maria da Glória Gohn (2013) study the collective practices and actions of social movements delimiting the basic characteristics of the context of the time (sociopolitical, economic and cultural characteristics of the historical time under analysis).
Cyberspace gains importance as a field of political dispute with the consequent popularization of the internet and social networks. The contemporary society experiences a cycle of social and political transformations, enabling the advent of new dynamics in interpersonal and individual/political institution relationships. In this scenario, the civil society develops an increasingly significant role within political and social processes (Avritzer, 2016; Castells, 2008 and 2013; Gohn, 2004; Lavalle et al., 2007). This research project seeks to bring significant academic and social contributions. Firstly, the study aims to understand MBL as a contemporary social movement, its communicative practices and the use of social networks to disseminate its discourse. Secondly, the project seeks to identify the appropriation of this discourse by one of its
coordinators, Kim Kataguiri, who started from a "non-partisan" movement but ended up being elected Congressman with an expressive number of votes. From this scenario, this research examines and seeks to answer the appropriations of these discourses through the following questions, focusing on the communicational practices of a social movement and the consequent appropriation of these discourses by members who led themselves into the political field.: How do these discourses circulate in society? How do members of these movements capitalize on this speech for their own benefit? The academic literature underlying this project seeks to delimit the scope of this research. Firstly, we try to analyse the historical evolution of the concept of a "Social Movement" and its contemporary definition in order to characterize MBL as a Social Movement and identify its mobilization objectives and purposes. This theoretical fr
Several groups involved in the national political debate and in social movements have appeared in Brazil since the June 2013 Days (JJ13), one of which is the MBL, "a non-profit organization aiming to mobilize citizens for a freer, fair and prosperous society and stand for Democracy, Republic, Freedom of Expression and the Press, Free Market, the Reduction of State and Bureaucracy." Many of the most voted politicians in the 2018 elections gained notoriety due to their intensive use of social networks and their involvement in these mobilizations. An illustration of this is the expressive number of votes received by Kim Kataguiri, one of the MBL coordinators, who won the position of Congressman. The concept of a social movement, before the beginning of the twentieth century, was only considered as the action of workers in unions. Academics from different areas
point to a re-orientation of the collective action, the different types of which are classified by theoretical categories into which contemporary social actors no longer fit (Touraine, 2003). The feminist movement, for example, sparked a review of gender hierarchy and politicized the domestic space (Hall, 2003). It should also be noted that the importance of understanding these movements in their processes of formation, dynamics, values and
perspectives of social transformation, highlighting the role of communication in the process of sharing the meaning and exchange of information (Castells, 2013). Such researchers as Maria da Glória Gohn (2013) study the collective practices and actions of social movements delimiting the basic characteristics of the context of the time (sociopolitical, economic and cultural characteristics of the historical time under analysis).
Cyberspace gains importance as a field of political dispute with the consequent popularization of the internet and social networks. The contemporary society experiences a cycle of social and political transformations, enabling the advent of new dynamics in interpersonal and individual/political institution relationships. In this scenario, the civil society develops an increasingly significant role within political and social processes (Avritzer, 2016; Castells, 2008 and 2013; Gohn, 2004; Lavalle et al., 2007). This research project seeks to bring significant academic and social contributions. Firstly, the study aims to understand MBL as a contemporary social movement, its communicative practices and the use of social networks to disseminate its discourse. Secondly, the project seeks to identify the appropriation of this discourse by one of its
coordinators, Kim Kataguiri, who started from a "non-partisan" movement but ended up being elected Congressman with an expressive number of votes. From this scenario, this research examines and seeks to answer the appropriations of these discourses through the following questions, focusing on the communicational practices of a social movement and the consequent appropriation of these discourses by members who led themselves into the political field.: How do these discourses circulate in society? How do members of these movements capitalize on this speech for their own benefit? The academic literature underlying this project seeks to delimit the scope of this research. Firstly, we try to analyse the historical evolution of the concept of a "Social Movement" and its contemporary definition in order to characterize MBL as a Social Movement and identify its mobilization objectives and purposes. This theoretical fr
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Anastasia Kavada (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Felipe Tessarolo (Student) |