Urban Popular Movements, Identity, and Democratization in Brazil

Abstract

This article addresses the political impact and limits of grass-roots popular movements in Brazil during the past decade. In the second half of the 1970s, as Brazil's military regime promoted a gradual process of political liberalization, grass-roots popular movements burgeoned, generating widespread hopes among the forces that opposed the regime. Nearly a decade after this initial wave of optimism, it has become apparent that the earlier expectations have not been borne out. The author analyzes why this has been the case, and argues that although a wide amalgam of social movements did oppose the military regime and did work toward democratization, their enormous heterogeneity made unity difficult to attain, except for very short times and for very specific conditions. Despite egregious poverty and inequalities, the popular classes have had difficulty creating a political identity based on common interests. Moreover, the state has intentionally pursued a policy of dividing social movements, and political parties have generally reinforced the fragmentation and isolation of grass-roots movements. While underscoring these limits in grass-roots movements, the author also argues that they have helped the popular classes conquer a sense of common identity and citizenship, and that they have helped put popular issues on the political agenda to a greater extent than in previous years.