Corporations and the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship: the editorials of Folha de S. Paulo newspaper from a historical perspective

Abstract

In alignment with historical organizational studies (Decker, Hassard, & Rowlinson, 2021; Maclean, Harvey, & Clegg, 2016) and seeking a geographical (re)orientation, more to the Global South, to historical research in organizational and management studies (A. S. M. Costa & Wanderley, 2021; Wanderley & A. Barros, 2019), the article aims to understand the ideological positioning and the political-discursive performance of the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo in the early period of the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985). A theoretical framework was built, supported by two historiographical currents (Business and Dictatorship; History and Press) and by the concepts of discourse, ideology, and power articulated by critical discourse analysis. In terms of documental sources, 112 daily editorials were collected, published from January to June 1964, and available in the historical archive of the researched company. The theoretical and methodological contribution of Norman Fairclough’s (2016) three-dimensional model and its proposed use by J.B. Thompson’s (2011) model of analysis of strategies of ideological constructions were used. As a result, it was possible to identify three different moments in the discursive trajectory of the positioning of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper concerning the military coup of 1964 in Brazil: (1) significant contribution to the destabilization of the democratic government of President João Goulart, (2) strong alignment with the military coup and its immediate unfoldings; and (3) support for the subsequent Castelo Branco government, but already with the enunciation of some reservations. Finally, it is possible to affirm that this journalistic organization acted strongly not only as an instrument of information but mainly as a producer and reproducer of specific discourses in favor of a particular social group and its subsequent dictatorial acts. Against this background, historical research into the political and socio-economic relations between business, government, and society over time and their unfolding today is becoming increasingly necessary.