Anarchism in times of political transition: the defense of student and worker self-management (Brazil, 1977-1989)

Abstract

At the end of the 1970s, via the opening process that signaled the weakening of the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil, new political proposals were taking shape, among which the resumption of projects of anarchist tones that channeled part of their ideological propaganda in defense of freedom and against authoritarianism. Through the creation of a range of printed materials, such as the newspaper O Inimigo do Rei, founded in 1977, in Bahia, new anarchist perspectives would be promoted, in which the defense of self-management – largely supported by the collectivist experiences carried out by workers during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) – became the master key for the organization of the student and worker movement in Brazil. Furthermore, in the 1980s, several libertarian expressions that mixed demands arising from counterculture were promoted in different regions of the country. Therefore, such a scenario of revolutionary yearnings, whose driving force was in the youth, outlined new paths for the Brazilian anarchist movement that, between its initiatives, included the attempt to rebuild the Brazilian Workers Confederation. In view of this, drawing on the alternative and libertarian press, as well as official documentation produced by the censorship and repression bodies, this article aims to sketch some reflections on a lesser-known period in the history of the anarchist movement in Brazil, highlighting its cultural production and the organization of collectives and libertarian meetings aiming at social transformation through self-managed socialism.