On the Pulse Series

Radical Right Populism and the Politics of Cruelty

The Case of COVID-19 in Brazil Under President Bolsonaro

Presented by Associate Professor Mary Zournazi

Dr Deborah Barros Leal Farias explores cruelty under populism, focusing on radical right populism. She develops her argument by introducing a two-dimensional model of cruel behaviour in politics, in which cruelty is conceptualised as a dependent variable defined in terms of empathy (how the leader addresses those who suffer) and action (how the leader acts to alleviate suffering).

This framework provides a nuanced understanding of how cruelty and populism connect, providing an original and cutting-edge contribution to both bodies of work. A two- dimensional model of cruel behaviour is used to shed light on the different ways radical right populists (RRP) embrace cruelty as part of their political strategies. She has come to three “ideal” types of RRP cruel behaviour: downplaying, blaming, and conspiring.

In order to advance our ideas, she relies on the qualitative analysis of Brazil's far-right populist President Jair Bolsonaro and his (in)actions regarding COVID-19, who once asked about the soaring number of dead from COVID-19 simply answered: “So what? What do you want me to do?.” Using this case study, she empirically illustrates different ways in which how cruelty can manifest itself in practice and what real-life consequences it can have.