Anti-Gender Discourses and Militaristic Values in Brazil and Chile: The Rearticulation of Neoliberalism and Conservatism in Education

• In Event: Continuities & Disruptions: Exploring Historical Legacies in Latin American Education Today

Proposal

The objective of this study is to analyze the rearticulation of neoliberal and conservative policies in the educational systems of Brazil and Chile, focusing on how these agendas, particularly anti-gender discourses and militaristic values, are gaining ground in both countries in response to progressive social advances. Many countries in Latin America, and the world, have been living in a phase of neoliberalism that is fueled by the strengthening of conservatism and the rise of far-right movements, notably in education (Lacerda, 2019; Dalmaso-Junqueira & Lima, 2022; Rojas, 2024). That is a phenomenon observed in both Brazil and Chile. Both countries have had center-left governments that promoted openness, anti-discrimination and sexual diversity agendas – Brazil under the governments of Lula and Dilma, and Chile under the government of Bachelet, currently continued by Boric. In addition, both faced pressure from social movements that drove these advances, such as the feminist and student movements in Chile, and the feminist, black, LGBTQIA+, indigenous and union movements in Brazil. These countries also share experiences of dictatorial military regimes, intertwined by neoliberal policies and the strong presence of the Catholic Church as a political agent.

These ideals now have been revived with force in a conservative reaction to the progressive advances. While Brazil experienced a far-right government that legitimized and consolidated a conservative and anti-gender agenda, in Chile, a political movement that is still in the process of expansion has dedicated itself to its popularization. Based on data collected in an ongoing comparative investigation, we argue for the importance of observing the legacy of neoliberal and conservative policies being rearticulated (Hall, 2003) in the educational field of these countries. The research involves conducting interviews with school communities (administrators, teachers, and families) in Brazil, Chile, and the United States regarding their support for conservative policies. In Brazil, this process has been marked by the rearticulation of militaristic values, where civic-military schools have gained significant momentum. Comparative data reveals similarities between the discipline imposed in these schools and that found in Catholic schools subsidized by the Chilean state. In both contexts, the anti-gender agenda has advanced, updating anti-feminist, queerphobic, racist and anti-immigrant values promoted by different agents according to each nation's reality. Segments of the population, identifying with this nostalgic discourse that seeks to reclaim an idealized past (Apple, 2003; Vargas-Maia & Pinheiro-Machado, 2023) —whether through the power of the Church or the dictatorship era—, support educational policies that incorporate these values, reflecting a tendency to revert to traditional ideals in response to contemporary social transformations. We argue that investigating the similarities, differences, and contradictions within this phenomenon helps to highlight its authoritarian and exclusionary nature, which has had harmful effects on the educational field. Through the reproduction of stereotypes and prejudices and the revival of a patriarchal, cisheteronormative, and racist societal project, the anti-gender agenda emerges as an urgent subject of investigation and resistance initiatives.

Authors

• Bruna Dalmaso-Junqueira, Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina

• Mariateresa Rojas, Universidad Alberto Hurtado