A neoliberalização do feminismo na Câmara dos Deputados: o uso (e abuso) da retórica feminista pelas parlamentares da 57ª Legislatura (2023-2024)

Abstract

Assuming that neoliberal hegemony and the effects of feminist advances are present in Brazilian reality today, interacting with each other, either conflictingly or harmoniously, but in both cases strategically, the objective of this work is to analyze the use of feminist rhetoric by Brazilian parliamentarians elected to the 57th Legislature of the Chamber of Deputies during the first two years of their term (2023-2024), especially to promote an agenda aligned with neoliberal logic, manifested both from a supposedly progressive perspective and from anti-feminist stances. First, through a comprehensive bibliographical review of the main founding doctrines of neoliberalism, its concrete regimes and, specifically, the consolidation and development of neoliberal logic in Brazil since the 1980s, as well as the subsequent readings of this phenomenon — neo-Marxist and Foucauldian —, I sought to clarify the ideological bases on which neoliberal policies and subjectivity are founded and the stage at which the current debate on the subject is. The second stage of the research covers two main fronts in which the reconfiguration promoted by neoliberal grammar was crucial for the expansion and maintenance of the project of primacy of free market rules, notably efficiency and competition. These are: the sphere of social reproduction and feminist ideals. At this point, I articulated the existing debate in feminist theories around the supposed neoliberal capture of feminisms, with the possible (and main) consequence of depoliticizing the movement. Next, based on the survey and analysis of the content of the posts and speeches of the federal deputies elected to the 57th Legislature, considering their official and Instagram pages, as well as their legislative proposals and participation in committees and parliamentary fronts in the first two years (2023-2024), I observed around which main categories and themes these parliamentarians tend to converge, despite their evident ideological differences and, therefore, despite belonging to opposing positions on the political spectrum. To this end, I resorted to content analysis and discourse analysis, in order to identify how the intertwining between neoliberalism and feminism influences the performance of women in the Chamber of Deputies and what its most explicit symptoms are. Finally, I argued that there are three most relevant themes that receive the most significant and recurring defense of the deputies in question: the representation of women in positions of power, the ideology of female entrepreneurship (and empowerment), and punitivism in the fight against gender violence.