Summary

Thaïs Machado Borges

Part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights have become the stuff of heated controversies in contemporary Brazil, producing new frontlines of struggle in a society marked by internal divides. How are ideas circulated and reinterpreted as they transit through geographic and sociopolitical contexts? Are certain concepts a foreign, top-down intrusion on national matters, or are they a means to lessen inequalities? This project tracks how the concept of gender used in expressions such as gender ideology and gender equality flow through different arenas of the Brazilian society, mobilizing publics towards various forms of collective action. The project, to be conducted during three years by a team of researchers, is divided into three questions: how are these concepts used in political decisions and debates? How are they configured in sayings, words, and images spread through public spaces? How are they discussed by feminist, conservative, and religious activists? Data will be gathered in Southeastern Brazil, using methods such as discourse analysis, field observations, focus groups, and interviews.

Project period: 2019-2021

Project leader: Associate Prof. Thaïs Machado-Borges

Participants: Dr. Janaína Negreiros Persson (Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies) and Professor Lena Gemzöe (Department of Religion, Ethnography and Gender Studies).

Project Funding: This project is funded by the Swedish Research Council (2019-2021). It has also received a contribution from Magnus Bergvalls Foundation (2020).