The Socialist Opposition Movement During Brazil s

Transcription

1 The Socialist Opposition Movement During Brazil s Military Dictatorship and the Rise of the Worker s Party Dominique M. Awis April 23, 2017 Introduction Since the era of the Vargas Administration in the 1950s, Brazil has a rich tradition of collective action performances that include land claiming, peasant leagues, protesting, strikes, and petitions. Brazil s collective action repertoire evolved throughout the military dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s in the form of cosmopolitan and modular performances such as massive demonstrations and guerrilla violence. A combination of student movements, middle-class movements, guerrilla groups, and urban and rural unions formed the Socialist Opposition Movement. United by the central message of regime change and encouraged by Brazil s political opportunity structure, the Socialist Opposition Movement was a response to the nationwide public opposition against actions by the military dictatorship such as civil rights restrictions and human rights abuses. Because these actions by the military dictatorship affected every individual in the population, it caused a great crisis and movement leaders were able to evoke emotional injustice frames and create solidarity in opposition to the regime. As a result, millions of people shared a common identity of anti-military regime association and the Socialist Opposition Movement was able to expand its circle of contention. Beginning in the 1980s, an evolved expression of contention was used by the Socialist Opposition Movement such that individuals began voting in elections as a performance in opposition to the dictatorship; for example, eighty-nine percent of the population voted in the 1983 election. 1

2 [2] Protest voting allowed an opposition party, the Worker s Party (PT), to grow in influence on the national level. The Socialist Opposition Movement was absorbed by the Worker s Party and the movement obtained new resources, leadership, and organization to bargain with the state and create national policy change. [2] As Tarrow (2011) writes, movements have brought masses of people into the streets demanding change. They often succeed, but when they failed, their actions set in motion important political, cultural and international change, (p.6). [17] Social movements rise and fall and it is important to understand their histories and impact on the world at at large; the Socialist Opposition Movement was a unique and important era in Brazil s history and future democracy. This report will chart the rise of the Socialist Opposition Movement and its institutional evolution into the Worker s Party, while understanding the social movement s dynamics and how it maintained its power. 1 The New Regime 1.1 The Fall of Joao Goulart Joao (Jango) Belchior Marques Goulart was installed as head of the Labor Party in Brazil in He was a fellow gaucho (cowboy) and close friend to the former labor movement s leader and former Brazilian president Getulio Dornelles Vargas. [1] The Labor Party (PTB) was loyal to Vargas Estado Novo, socialist democracy state. [1] The initial goal in the group s formation was to organize a group of working class citizens who would be loyal to Vargas regime. [2] The Labor Party was a working class movement such that the individuals share the common interest of worker s rights and benefits under the exploitative conditions of capitalism. [2] The Labor Party was made up of union elites, the institutional Ministry of Labor, industrial bourgeoisie inclined towards nationalism, and urban union workers. [2] Many Labor Party members were known as trabalhistas or Communist union leaders. [2] Labor Party mobilized workers, distributed patronage, acted in opposition to its enemies, and rewarded loyalists by creating jobs. [1] The Labor Party organized strike movements and work stoppages in purpose to bargain for higher wages and better working conditions for workers. [2] The strikes and stoppages were often successful. In 1958 there was a recorded 31 strikes. [2] 2

3 The Labor Party s Goulart became president of Brazil in 1961 after Kubitschek s term despite opposition from the Brazilian military. [3] Goulart installed new reforms in purpose to curb the social pressure of workers and groups such as agrarian reform and urban reform. [2] Agrarian reform was enacted in purpose to settle disputes over land while urban reform allowed tenants to remain in their homes. [2] Additionally, the Goulart Administration focused on more Socialist nationalistic framework such that government would take a stronger position in economic matters to curb the social problems caused from economic policies. [2] Goulart increased the minimum wage and salaries of workers. [4] These reforms were supported by the educated middle class of Brazil. [2] During this period, anti-goulart sentiment was growing in the Brazilian military. [2] There was a revolt within the military in 1963 which was a crisis for Goulart s regime. [2] The military was growing in number against Goulart and his reforms; individuals within the military were upset that officer s wages were being lowered while minimum wage was increased under Goulart. [5] Anti- Goulart propaganda was passed through military barracks. [5] The military held certain principles: maintaining social order, respect for hierarchy, and controlling Communism. [2] The military gained values of anti-communism in Brazil s military war colleges, modeled after US war colleges. [2] Critics of the Goulart regime claimed rural and union workers have received no benefits and that the standard of living had declined. [10] The military viewed the Goulart Administration as a descent toward Communism. [2] Goulart s presidency only lasted until 1964 [6] when the military gathered armies in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and overthrew Goulart in purpose to free the country from corruption and Communism and to restore democracy. [2] The military installed a new president, Castello Branco. [14] Those in favor of the dictatorship called the move a revolution while opponents labeled it as a coup. [14] The US was supportive of the military dictatorship and held the view the military dictatorship would suppress Brazil s perceived descent into Communism under Goulart. [7] Right-wing interest groups such as the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property claimed, the main goal of a legitimate dictatorship should be the restoration of the order that communists - the inner enemies - had destroyed, (p.1). [16] As Ginway (1999) writes, 3

4 the Brazilian regime legitimized its power by implementing a series of economic policies that became known as the economic miracle. (p.248). [21] The rich supported the new regime because they believed it to be the beginning of new prosperity. [17] Technocrats, supportive of measures to lower wages, also supported the new regime as well as foreign investors lured by the regime s promise of economic security for Brazil. [19] 1.2 Growing Oppression The new military dictatorship strengthened executive power and limited parliamentary powers. [2] Military officials expelled all members of government that were not military officials; a journalist supportive of the military regime framed the expulsion as decommunization for Communist sympathizers in government. [9] The New York Times observes, the military regime has installed a censorship of the press, made thousands of arrests and dismissed many Deputies without trial, (p.1). [7] The article negatively framed the Goulart Administration as dangerously bolshevizing the nation and argued the expulsion of all non-military officials was a preliminary to the restoration of democracy, (p.1). [7] The new military dictatorship also abolished all political parties except the party of the military, the National Renewel Alliance, and the moderate Democratic including the popular Labor Party and arrested suspected Communist groups. [2] One American news reported over 900 armed raids in the state of Guanabara where Communist propaganda was seized and more than 3,000 people were arrested. [8] Student associations were targeted and universities were raided. [2][17] Many union league leaders were jailed and labor unions ransacked; any leftists were singled out for military persecution including left-wing media, filmmakers, clergy, and militants. [2][17] The military had detained over 12,000 people, mostly students, journalists, artists, and lawyers without trial. [17] Communist books, scientific publications, and any ideological propaganda was seized. [18] Military authorities censored the Media. [11] Such tactics are used by repressive societies; this control silences critics and opponents of the regime while blocking the information flow upward. [15] The military dictatorship used propaganda tactics to gain consent and legitimacy of the new government. They used right-wing media and even Walt Disney to intimidate the public into hold- 4

5 ing greater sentiments of patriotism. [17] The civismo (civility) campaign used slogans such as Without proper documents you are nothing! and Brazil: love it or leave it. [17] Television propaganda was especially useful to the military dictatorship and televisions constantly blared proregime propaganda. [17] The military regime also added patriotism themes in secondary school textbooks; phrases such as, we love this country because it is ours; we triumph in its progress, were included in the text. [17] 2 Origins of the Opposition 2.1 Contentious Collective Action The regime was opposed by university students, labor officials, and intellectuals for its civil rights restrictions. [17] Unorganized and loosely connected protests against the military dictatorship arose as direct response to the military takeover. [2] Protests were popularly known in Brazil as highly offensive actions that demonstrated an individual s interests in social change. [10] Contentious collective action occurs when a shift in public mood causes individuals to combine forces to challenge elites, opponents, and authorities. [15] Protests were a direct result of the shift in public mood as the dictatorship reversed Goulart and the Labor Party s popular policies and the restrictions of civil rights. Contentious collective action is present when individuals or actors, triggered by changing political opportunities and constraints that create incentives, take action because they lack the resources to create change on their own. [15] Contentious collective action is used by people with new grievances to act against authority because of a lack of regular access to representative institutions. [15] In Brazil during the first year against the military dictatorship in 1964, when media access and representation was limited to only the military government, protests were the main way actors communicated their grievances against the new regime. During the years that followed, protests, strikes, and petitions were on the rise as actors challenged the legitimacy and practices of the regime. [2] In Brazil, these actions were likely implemented because they were, as Tarrow (2011) explains, historically learned conventions that become part of a society s public culture. [15] Actors were able to mobilize because of a unified sense 5

6 of outrage against the regime. Leaders were able to work within existing networks to organize demonstrations against the military regime. Contentious collective actions, often are marked by interrupting, obstructing, or rendering uncertain the activities of others, (p.9). [15] In Brazil, the protests blocked streets and the strikes caused factories to close. 2.2 Emergence of a Movement Contentious collective action was apparent in Brazil shortly after the start of the military dictatorship, but how did the it evolve into a social movement? As Tarrow (2011) notes, when contentious collective action is well-backed by social networks spurred by culturally salient action-oriented contentious action, this will lead to direct action with opponents, elites, and authority and effectively create a social movement. [15] Actors must recognize other actors in the movement s common interests and that potential translates into action. [15] In Brazil, new measures caused outrage and more and more individuals were connecting into anti-government associations. The military introduced invasive security reforms like National Information Bureau or SNI to collect and analyze data pertaining to national security, counterintelligence, and information on matters of internal subversion. [2] This reform gave the military dictatorship the authority to engage in violent authority tools such as torture. Thousands of people were tortured and hundreds were reported missing and never found. [14] Anyone who voice opposition to the dictatorship was arrested and tortured. [16] Elite institutions became aware of torture and began to react. The Catholic Church s bishops were shocked about how clergy was being treated. [17] The Bar Association defended political prisoners and rallied their colleagues against the regime s torture methods. [17] Members of the Catholic Church examined the regime s torture methods and made it know to the public. [16] The news of torture was widespread. Brazilians were terrified of the military government. [19] The dictatorship acquired the reputation for being cruel. [2] The Catholic Church became an institutional center against the opposition. [14] The Catholic church mobilized its contacts from abroad such as the Vatican to bring human rights abuses of the military dictatorship to an international audience. [14] Because of the Catholic Church s widespread influence, opposition toward the regime increased as networks of religious associa- 6

7 tions were tapped into thus spreading the contention to many individuals not priorly apart of the opposition. The Catholic Church was able to distribute pamphlets to promote its messaging. [16] Through the use of print, networks of association are able to form. [15] Beginning in 1966, anti-regime sentiment was radiating throughout the public. [17] Violence was beginning to erupt in the state; 30 men with arms crossed into Rio Grande do Sul and hijacked a local radio station and began playing anti-government messages. [17] Further, terrorist attacks were happening in regions in Brazil; the US consul s home was bombed as well as a bomb was placed at an airport intended for the War Minister. [17] Violent actions are easy for individuals or groups to implement and are normally limited to small groups with little resources who are willing to intake damage and risk repression for their cause. [15] Massive demonstrations were organized by university students. Despite the government s reforms to curb massive demonstrations, the students were able to organize attacking the military dictatorship. [17] Opposition movements are skilled at symbolizing contention while getting around authorities boundaries. [15] The demonstrations signified identity (opposition to the regime) and reinforced solidarity amongst participants. [15] Massive demonstrations were disruptive to the government in Brazil; the demonstrations involved millions of individuals sitting down in streets. Disruption, obstructs the routine activities of opponents, bystanders, or authorities and forces them to attend to protesters demands, (p.101). [15] Disruption also widens the circle of contention by drawing bystanders or authorities into the conflict. [15] The massive protests often caused clashes with police that ended in violence. [7] The demonstrations increased after the 1968 death of a student at the hands of police. [2] A massive protest funeral was held for the student. [5] The student s death was a catalyst for summoning waves of mobilization as Tarrow (2011) notes death symbolism evokes the deepest emotions within individuals. [15] Rural and urban unions formed strikes against the military dictatorship s new economic policies. In 1968, metalworkers in Minas Gerais staged a wildcat and occupied a factory. [5] The workers were protesting the steadily declining wages and demanded pay increases. [5] In another strike, 800 armed workers crashed a May Day rally, charging the stage and giving their own speeches against the economic policies of the regime. [5] In another strike in Sao Paulo, metalworkers demanded a 7

8 Figure 1: Massive Demonstrations, Brazil wage increase and passed out literature that attacked the government s anti-strike laws. [5] Labor movements were on the rise in Brazil in the late 1960s. [2] Many labor movements were organized by union leaders or university students. [5] The mobilizations continued and by 1974, the opposition was a social movement on a national scale. [19] The Socialist Opposition Movement was made up of the student movement, the labor movement, the Catholic Church, guerrilla groups, and the left-wing media. [19] The movement unified in opposition against the military regime and called for the liberalization of the current political system. [19] Opposition to the dictatorship was supported by institutions such as the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Brazilian Press Association (ABI), and the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB). [19] As Breneman (1995) dramatically describes, Opposition to military repression became much more prominent. University students were leading protest marches with the purges of professors and educational programs. Inspired by the worldwide student protests of this period, they were seen as a tremendous threat. Sectors of the Catholic Church began to speak out against injustice and torture, and sheltered those blacklisted...this was also the beginning of dissent among the elite sectors. [19] Publicly the dictatorship had a low level of legitimacy, however despite the overwhelming criticism from various groups, the government did not curb its civil rights restrictions or human rights abuses. [19] 8

9 3 Networks and Organizations 3.1 Marxism and the Youth Brazil had a relatively young population; over half of the population was under 20 during the first years of the dictatorship. [2] Marxism was a guiding philosophy for many of Brazil s youth; Marxism provided a way for youth to understand their social reality and as a guide to mobilized action against their grievances. [20] The attitude of the youth was that man needed mobilization to liberate man from all chains that socially enslave him, allowing him to fulfill his potentialities; and one the other hand an optimistic attitude concerning the capacity of human communities for self-determination. [20] Marxism however was an ideology in the military government s view as close to Communism, and as a result, university students were targets of raids and arrests often resulting in torture or exile. [2] Universities were targeted as an opposition base of influence, however students were still able to use universities to build interpersonal networks as messaging was transferred especially in the humanities and liberal arts majors. [5]. Interpersonal networks offer socialization in purpose to build movement identities. [15] They also offer participation opportunities and assist in shaping preferences before individuals even join movements. [15] Through association of oral and written communication of Marxist values, university students were prepping themselves for mobilization in opposition of the regime. 3.2 Guerrilla Tactics Guerrilla groups were small independent groups that operated operated like an army, trained cadres (fighters) totaling 800 people in the Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo regions. [5] The singular goal of the guerrilla groups was to overthrow the military dictatorship and seize political power. [14] The messaging behind popular guerrilla sentiment was often obscure but often evoked the sense of righteousness or injustice framing. What is essential is the basic definition of a guerrilla, a man who acts against hunger, misery and injustice, said Carlos Marighela, a charismatic guerrilla leader shortly before his assassination in [14] Many of the armed guerrilla groups were former military ousted because of Communistic ideol- 9

10 ogy. [2] Many others were disaffected youth from the elite classes; many came from leftist Catholic youth organizations and university political groups. [5] Brazilian guerrilla groups recruited from universities, religious groups, trade unions including the banned National Student s Union (UNE), banned political parties, and even among professionals. [5] These groups organized strikes in factories or universities and passed out propaganda material depicting the assassination of police or military officials. [5] Many guerrilla groups committed violence towards the government in the form of kidnapping, robbery, assassination, arson, and hijacking. [12] Robbery was a newer form of contentious action not seen in earlier periods of social unrest in Brazils history. Guerrilla groups, unlike institutions, lack the financial capital to bargain with the state through formal channels and therefore often robbed banks to in pursuit of capital to fund their goals. Robberies were very violent forms of collective action; many police officials and guerrilla rebels were killed during these events. Many guerilla groups also participated in kidnappings as a form of contentious political action. Kidnapping is a very violent form of contentious political action and the death of individuals was often an end result. The guerilla groups exposed their enemy s (the military government) weakness (political leaders) and sought to take advantage of the military government s vulnerability by kidnapping and threat of murder. Four Days in September In one famous event, the Revolutionary Movement 8th October, a guerrilla group made up of former Brazilian Communist Party members kidnapped the American Ambassador, Charles Burke Elbrick in 1969 in Rio de Janeiro. The group is known for its Marxist- Leninist ideology. The group gave the government an ultimatum that if certain political prisoners were released, the guerrilla rebels would release the Ambassador in return. [5] The military government conceded to the pressures and allowed the manifesto of the guerrilla group to be broadcasted as well as permitted the release of the political prisoners. [5] The guerrillas were arrested and tortured; the political prisoners were exiled. Between 1979 and 1980, 129 political prisoners were released in return for kidnapped ambassadors. [14] 10

11 3.3 The Church in Opposition The Catholic Church was a main opponent against the military dictatorship in Brazil. [5] The Catholic Church protected its clergy and other leftists who voice opposition to the regime. [5] Networks of the Catholic Church included popular associations such as the Acao Popular (AP), Juventude Universitaria (JUC), and Juventude Operaria Carolica (JOC). [5] The Catholic Church was involved in intellectualism; they witnessed the repression of the public and the increasing economic inequalities and opposed capitalism. [5] Important leaders in the Catholic Church were the bishops. The bishops were strong voice against the military dictatorship and provided as witness to social injustice. [5] During this period, the Catholic Church was growing more in opposition to the government, speaking out against government violence and poverty; they viewed the military as a threat to Brazil. [5] At the Catholic Church s direction, the movement viewed the military regime as a threat. The arrival of a threat creates an opening in which alliances are formed and new groups are gaining power. [15] The Catholic Church s influence added momentum to the Socialist Opposition Movement. 4 Maintaining Power 4.1 Constructing Solidarity Leaders are effective in communicating a movement s interests through symbolic messaging and setting and they are able to create a strong sense of identity, however, it takes more than solidarity in common grievances and a well structured network to sustain a social movement; the movement must evoke a strong and empowering sense of injustice. [15] In Brazil, the Socialist Opposition Movement was able to strategically use collective action framing techniques to evoke emotion using the injustice frame and maintain support. The injustice frame negatively portrayed the military dictatorship as cruelly revoking intrinsic human rights and charged the military government with human right abuses. The injustice frame is important in drawing supporters to the movement; before actors will mobilize, Gamson writes, people must collectively define their situations as unjust, (p.145). [15] Social movements make and manipulate meaning in messaging. [15] For example, collective 11

12 action frames were used in Brazil by the opposition. Collective action simplifies the world out there by encoding situations, events and experiences within an individual s environment, (p.144). [15] Collective action frames build trust and cooperation within networks and are used to justify, dignify, and animate collective action. [15] As Tarrow (2011) notes, collective action framing, relates to the generalization of the grievance and defines the us and them in a movement s structure of conflict and alliances, (p.31). [15] In Brazil, the us was the public, grieved by the rights abuses of the oppressive them, the military government. In this regard, the movement defined and constructed a collective identity. [15] Messaging in the Socialist Opposition Movement created a distance and set boundaries between the public and the military dictatorship such as Tarrow (2011) would explain is a characteristic of making meaning in movements. [15] Movements often use emotional messaging to justify contentious collective action. [15] This messaging was effective in attracting supporters to the movement in Brazil. The Catholic Church used religious themes of human rights to maintain support. Student associations promoted values of social justice while the labor movement promoted values of economic justice. The middle-class used themes such as control culture on protest signs to evoke themes of culture repression by authorities. These framing techniques were unique to the associations within the separate groups, however, all promoted opposition to the military regime. The framing techniques and identity construction were highly successful in that they caused individuals within each association to make meanings and effectively mobilize to join the Socialist Opposition Movement in collective solidarity. 4.2 Repertoire of Contention Tilly (1995) devised the concept of the repertoire of contention as, the ways that people act together in pursuit of shared interests. [15] The repertoire of contention include the observable behaviors of a social movement that combine to create a collection of activities used in opposition to elites and authorities. The repertoire of contention is not only what people do when they are in conflict with authorities but the limits to what they know how to do and what others expect from them. [15] 12

13 For example, in Brazil s repertoire included performances (activities that symbolize contention) such as land claiming, peasant leagues, protesting, strikes, and petitions in the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, massive demonstrations and guerrilla violence were added to the repertoire. Massive demonstrations were autonomous meaning direct contact between the mobilized and the authorities. [15] The massive demonstrations allowed the Socialist Opposition Movement to communicate demands to the government and forced the government to take action in light of the heard demands. Guerrilla violence was a cospmopolitian (affects many localities) and modular (transferrable from one setting to another) [15] as guerrilla violence was used through Latin America during this period as well as guerrilla groups were designed this way to prevent coercion from authorities. 5 Dynamics 5.1 Cycles of Contention Using examples from Tarrow s (2011) cycles of contention such as early risers, innovation in the repertoire, and protest campaigns and coalition formation and diffusion, the dynamics of the Socialist Opposition Movement may be further understood. The Socialist Opposition Movement, as Tarrow (2011) has observed in other movements, was able to peak in few areas and diffuse towards less mobilized areas; this lead to the military regime to, as their weaknesses were identified and exploited, react in new ways such as political exile. [15][2] During the Socialist Opposition Movement in Brazil, the early risers (or first waves of mobilization) were the university students. The university students were able to communicate their messages of regime change to the labor movement via their obstructive massive demonstrations and there was an increase in worker strikes as a result. Early risers communicate messages that offered broader activities of contention. [15] In Brazil, opponents of the regime were able to broadened their circles of contention through the leadership of the early risers, communicate anti-government messages, and mobilize the labor movement to strike as a reactionary performance. Innovations in the repertoire is characterized by the growth of new forms of contention; these new forms of contention expose the weaknesses of the authorities and allows the movement to gain 13

14 the notice of elites, groups, or media. [15] Cycles of contention are characterized by new and old forms of contention. [15] In Brazil, guerrilla tactics became a new form of contention to add to Brazils existing repertoire; guerrilla tactics exposed the weaknesses of the authority by causing the military regime to conceed to demands. This innovation was a protest performance that attract supporters and added momentum to the Socialist Opposition Movement. Authorities may respond to contention with repression, which might cause a moderate actor to turn against authorities and join the leftist rebels in their cause. [15] In Brazil, the military regime began arresting and torturing Catholic clergy as a response to cracking down on revolutionary contention. The Catholic Church, once moderate, aligned itself with the revolutionaries in opposition against the regime. [5] Tarrow (2011) refers to this diffusion as the scale shift, in which contention spreads and the polity includes new actors, alliances, and institutions. [2] 5.2 Quieter forms of contention Tropicalismo As the military government suppressed labor activism, banned student political organizations, and restricted political opposition, new forms of contention emerged through the arts. [21] Tropicalismo (Tropicalism) ermerged as a response to the military dictatorship s repressions; Tropicalismo music identified with a political culture and became a form of artistic protest. [5] As ideological demonstrations were banned, individuals were able to engage in contentious collective action by attending music festivals. [21] The music offered themes such as authenticity and alienation of Brazilian culture. [21] In lyrics by Gil and Vasconcellos (1968), a real carnival/hospitable friendship/brutality garden, (p.245) [21] spoke of networks of associations of oppression against the military regime. In Gil and Veloso lyrics (1969), pay attention/to the windows up high...pay attention/to the blood on the ground, (p.246) [21] draw awareness too and reflect on events in which the military snipers shot and killed individuals at protests. Trocipalismo was a quieter performance than others in Brazil s repertoire of contention at this point in history. As Tarrow (2011) notes, the channeling of protest may have produced both a decline in coercive means and a shift on the part of the protesters to quieter forms of contention. [15] Soule and Davenport have found strong support that the decline in authoritarian repression was 14

15 a result of the quieter form of contention. [15] This was also observed in Brazil during this period; the Socialist Opposition Movement channelled the protest into music and the government curbed its coercion restrictions such as allowing music festivals to be permitted as they did not obstruct civil society. Literatura The military regime s repression of political speech altered the themes of Brazilian literature by allowing literature writers to express aggressive and satirical anti-repression themes in their literatura (literature). [21] The literatura was mostly written in the form of fiction: experimental political novels and dystopian fiction, as well as nonfiction: documentary and testimonial novels. [21] For a fiction example, Fonseca s (1974) story, Feliz Ano Novo involved a murder as a symbol to denounce the absence of truth and ethical choices of the military dictatorship. [21] In Veiga s (1968) work, A Maquina Extraviada, the setting depicts an omnious future...[suggesting] the chilling consequences of a dictatoship gone unchecked...[using] humor and parody to undermine the authoritarian government s ultimate control, (p.252). [21] Nonfiction was also an important form of association with readers. Testimonial novels were especially popular, selling a hundred thousands copies in print in the first few weeks. [21] O Que e isso, Companheiro? recounts Gabeira s (1969) memories as a prisoner of the military dictatorship. [21] Testimonials spread information about the dictatorship s use of torture as well as created a catharsis for Brazilians, allowing them to release tensions and emotions caused by their fear of the dictatorship. [21] The literatura reflected anti-government messaging and was popular with journalists, professors, and middle-class readers, forming associations of print networks between these groups. [21] Although literatura was a quieter form of contention, that is not to say it did not result in coercion by authorities such as censorship; sometimes the military government censored works for obscenity or pornography. [21] 15

16 6 Rise of the Worker s Party 6.1 Lula and the labor movement The Worker s Party was founded by Lula (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) in Lula was born very poor in rural Pernambuco and raised in Sao Paulo. He spent most of his life as a worker s rights activist. In 1978, after Lula was a known leader of the labor movement, Lula decided the political activism was not enough and perhaps a working class party should be formed. [5] Lula had carried out several large-scale strikes in Brazil, especially in the Sao Paulo area. [5] Strikes in 1979 amounted to strikes involving up to 3 million people. [24] The party planned to run beginning in the 1982 parliamentary elections. [5] The Worker s Party was an opposition party against the military regime campaigning on socialist political and economic principles. The Worker s Party was also an alternative to the moderate Democratic Socialist Party, the other major party of the era. The Worker s Party gained popularity and spread to urban areas such as Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Parana, and Rio Grande do Sul. [5] The Worker s Party was increasing in popularity with rural and urban union members, the Catholic Church, and the professional middle-class. [2] By 1984, the Worker s Party absorbed the labor movement. Because of government coercion against massive strikes, strikes were on the decline from 1979 to For example, metalworker strike in Sao Bernardo in 1980 resulted in the military government sending armed soldiers; the leaders were arrested and charged for treason. [24] The labor movement, cautious of government coercion against strikes as well as the economic downturn of Brazil in the 1980s causing massive unemployment, [24] found themselves mobilizing behind the Worker s Party instead of participating in strikes. [24] This was likely because it was less risky than strikes and still offered rewards of policy change. 6.2 A new performance Instead of organizing strikes, the Worker s Party suggested an experimental contentious collective action performance: protest voting. [2] Protest voting was the act of voting as a contentioius performance to express opposition to the military regime in parliamentary elections, decreasing the 16

17 power of the military government. Protest voting was a success in that in 1983, 82 percentage of the population voted. [2] 6.3 Elections After over a decade of collective action, the Socialist revolutionary movement was finally experiencing drastic policy change. The Worker s Party was gaining seats at the local and municipal levels of government as Brazil s major government opposition party. [5] Remarkably, in 1984 a nation-wide campaign (diretas ja ) was led to reintroduce direct election for the president and other officials, and national support for the opposition parties heightened. In 1985 the military installed a civilian president, Jose Sarney... and planned to hold legitimate presidential elections in [14] This was a major victory for the Socialist Opposition Movement. Because the Worker s Party s main performance was the protest vote, the party was able to channel the Socialist Opposition social movement into political power. The Worker s Party s protest vote proved to be effective; its electoral percentage had increased by 97 percent in 1986 (see Table 1). [22] The protest vote rationally is a low-cost behavior that comes with a potentially high reward and no threat of retaliation. Voting is a civil right and not a disruptive behavior; the performance also does not take as much time or resources such as land claims, peasant leagues, protests, strikes, petitions, guerrilla violence, or massive demonstrations and therefore became a highly successful performance tool. Voting became an act of nonviolent contention involving nearly all members of the population; voting is less costly and a more affective alternative to obstructionist public demonstrations. Table 1: Worker s Party Vote Percentage in Brazil Parliamentary Elections Year Vote Percentage

18 Conclusion The process of democratization in Brazil was a slow one however effective. Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, Brazil was having greater turnout in its federal and local elections resulting in an aggregate democratic behavior and socialist policies on the national level. With time, the Socialist Opposition Movement lead the public to turn more and more out to vote and show support of the greater movement at large while working towards institutionally affecting policy. This gave rise to the Worker s Party in Brazil as the Socialist Opposition Movement institutionalized its contention into the protest vote. The Worker s Party was unique in the fact that it was a social movement party by becoming the voice of the opposition. [23] The party absorbed the Socialist Opposition Movement and used the momentum of the movement to propel the party into the national electoral arena institutionalizing contention through elections. The protest vote performance was experimental initially, but after several years of use and effectiveness, the performance became a conventional form of collective action. The protest vote was added to the Socialist Opposition Movement s repertoire of contention and it proved to be very effective against the military dictatorship. To explain its success, the protest vote was far cheaper than strikes and took far less time than peasant leagues, protesting, massive demonstrations, or petitioning as well as was non-violent unlike land claims or guerrilla activity. Voting is a civil right and unlike other performances in the repertoire is not an obstructionist behavior that would result the military regime s retaliative authority tools. Brazil was becoming what Meyer and Tarrow (1998) call a social movement society such that an increasing amount of people were involved in contentious activity once deemed unconventional. [15] The protest vote became conventionalized after implementation from the Worker s Party. The success of the Socialist Opposition Movement is largely based on organization and structure. The movement s central message was an alternative governmental representation and the many diverse groups that opposed the military regime shared this goal. Through effective collective action performances such as the protest vote, groups were able to combine their association for change and evolve to become an overwhelming political force. These 18

19 findings present important implications for future inquiry; further studies may wish to investigate the affect of the Socialist Opposition Movement on the fall of the military dictatorship. 19

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