The Rise of the Contentious Right: Digitally Intermediated Linkage Strategies in Argentina and Brazil

Abstract

This article analyzes novel patterns of interaction between right-wing parties and protest movements during major contentious cycles in Argentina (2012–13) and Brazil (2013–16), which preceded the advent of the Cambiemos coalition in the former and the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in the latter. Drawing on a dual process-tracing strategy and a wide range of data sources, this study shows that these interactions are central to understanding why and how right-wing parties leverage novel repertoires and resources from digital activists during contemporary protest cycles, a dynamic conceptualized as a new party linkage strategy through digital intermediation. The study traces its three-phase development in both countries, revealing how differences in institutional contexts and the strength of activist groups contributed to divergent trajectories of partisan opposition toward the end of the cycles, regarding both the subsequent reconfiguration of the right and the entry of digital activists into institutional arenas.

Candidaturas Coletivas: Uma Nova Forma de Interação entre Movimentos Sociais e Partidos Políticos

“…Ademais, a colaboração não se limita ao campo ideológico da esquerda. Organizações de extrema direita também recorrem a modelos e táticas intersetoriais envolvendo partidos, mesmo que não concorram diretamente às eleições (Kitschelt, 2006), influenciam eleições por meio da apresentação de suas lideranças como candidatos e do apoio de candidaturas alinhadas as suas agendas (Dias, von Bülow, Gobbi, 2021;Guasti, Almeida, 2019), ou ativam importantes recursos organizacionais -aprendizado da ação coletiva digital, por exemplo -que serão apropriados por partidos de direita nas eleições (Gold, Peña, 2021). Nesse sentido, importa pergun-tar quais movimentos situados em quais partidos têm obtido sucesso ou tentado este repertório eleitoral via candidaturas coletivas.…”

Anti-Abortion Mobilization in Latin America: Signs of a Field in Transformation

“…Recent studies identified the increased use of grassroots mobilization repertoires by right-wing and neoconservative movements during the conservative shift in the 2010s. Among other themes, such as gun rights, demand for law and order ("mano dura") policies, and anticorruption reforms, the opposition to gender and sexual equality policies is identified as an important trigger of such mobilizations (MAYKA and SMITH, 2021;REUTERSWÄRD, 2021;CORREDOR, 2021;DIAS, VON BÜLOW, and GOBBI, 2021;GOLD and PEÑA, 2021).…”