Social movements in times of the rise of the new right: The marcha das margaridas

Abstract

This article analyses the Marcha das Margaridas, a feminist mobilisation spearheaded by women from the Brazilian Union of Rural Workers in alliance with other social movements, trade unions, and international organisations in the years 2015 and 2019-considered to be the time of the rise of the new right. From a theoretical approach that regard the performance of social movements based on the concepts of actions of social reproduction and forms of collective action, we analyse the Marcha beyond its most visible expression-that is, a large street protest in the city of Brasilia, and the negotiations with state agents (forms of collective action). Rather, we understand this movement as also involving a long process of organisation, mobilisation, political formation activities, and politics of alliances with other social actors (actions of social reproduction). By analysing them interdependently and vis-à-vis the political opportunity structures at the time of the rise of the new right, we will better understand how social movements acted considering the new context.