'The Perfection of Democracy Cannot Dispense with Dealing with the Past:' Dictatorship, Memory, and the Politics of the Present in Brazil

This article uses recent events in Brazil to argue for a consideration of the ways collective memory and transitional politics intersect with political life in the twenty‐first century. Drawing on a wide array of phenomena – the creation and completion of Brazil's National Truth Commission, the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Latin Americanist (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2018-03, Vol.62 (1), p.55-79
Main Author: Snider, Colin M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Collective memory
Democracy
Dictatorship
Impeachment
Left wing politics
Life transitions
Military regimes
Political aspects
Political corruption
Politics
Truth and reconciliation commissions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article uses recent events in Brazil to argue for a consideration of the ways collective memory and transitional politics intersect with political life in the twenty‐first century. Drawing on a wide array of phenomena – the creation and completion of Brazil's National Truth Commission, the 2013 protests, the 2016 impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and more – this article considers the ways in which the military past continues to ripple into the present at the discursive, political, and social levels. In the process, I argue for an expanded approach to transitional politics that explores the ways in which memories, discourses, and policies from military regimes continue to shape politics, society, and discourse decades after militaries left power not just in Brazil, but throughout South America.
ISSN:1557-2021
1557-203X
DOI:10.1111/tla.12181