The excluded of the New Republic: Bolsonarism equivalences between Abraham Weintraub's olavism and Paulo Guedes' ultraliberalism

Abstract

This article analyzes the discursive similarities and differences of two political
actors linked to Bolsonarism and coming from distinct identities: Abraham Weintraub,
former Minister of Education influenced by Olavo de Carvalho, and Paulo Guedes, former
Minister of Economy influential in ultraliberal circles. Our intention is to investigate the
equivalential articulation of a Bolsonarist collective identity that united, among others, the
agendas of ultraliberals and olavistas. In this exploratory exercise, we rely on the discourse
approach proposed by the Argentine theorist Ernesto Laclau to examine interviews, inaugural
speeches, conferences, and public statements of both former ministers. We found that,
although the discourses are anchored in different philosophical and ideological perspectives,
the demands of the ultraliberals and Olavo's followers converge in their common opposition
to the “system” of the New Republic, whose main leadership was attributed to the PT
governments. Simultaneously, the actors of the so-called “New Right” have discursively constructed a Brazilian people excluded from the "system", victimized by political and
economic elites, and assaulted in their values. With a common antagonist and constructing
discursive equivalences, the compatibility of the ultraliberal project of economic
restructuring with the elimination of leftist cultural hegemony was articulated around the
Bolsonarist collective identity.