From preachers to comedians: Ideal types of hate speakers in Brazil

Abstract

This article attempts to develop a theoretical framework in order to understand how the media system has been enabling public figures to use hate speech to enhance their media prominence. The current scenario in Brazil, shaped by a high concentration of (private) media ownership, an economic crisis, deep political polarization, distrust of democracy and the right turn, provides a privileged case for analysing it. In this scenario, public figures preach violence against homosexuals on TV. Black people are insulted and compared to monkeys. Based on Max Weber’s ideal types and Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital, four ideal types have been identified: the hate preacher, the right-wing populist, the media polemicist and the intolerant comedian. The analysis makes it evident that hate speakers tend to be ‘backbenchers’ who guarantee their media prominence (or ‘capital’) through a strongly commercialized media system, particularly on TV and the Internet.