Rhetoric of Loss in the 2018 Brazilian Presidential Elections: Religion, Social Fears and Tradition in Focus

Abstract

In this paper we reflect on the production of two political strategies that we name Rhetoric of Loss and Allies of Evangelicals. Our focus fell on their mobilization during the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections, in particular, by then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro. We seek to explore the convergence between religious and secular narratives and interests in these processes given that games of concealing and revealing the religious have played out markedly in Brazilian politics over the last two decades. The thoughts we develop here are the fruit of a collective and inter-institutional work of monitoring the 2018 elections in Brazil. In this election, religious stances and perspectives were presented and defended in the light of narratives that emphasized tradition and security, producing hope about a rescue of authority, lifestyles, and social values that are under threat today.