EP. 638: LULA AND BRAZIL THE SECOND TIME AROUND ft. ALEX HOCHULI

THIS IS REVOLUTION ＞podcast

Lula da Silva's return to office in Brazil marks a critical attempt to undo the conservative rollback of his party's previous progressive reforms. Under Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil saw an erosion of social programs, environmental protections, and Indigenous rights that the Workers' Party (PT) had championed in the 2000s. Lula’s reinstatement of programs like *Bolsa Família*, designed to address food insecurity for over 33 million Brazilians, and his commitment to halting environmental destruction in the Amazon are core components of his platform. However, the Brazil Lula governs today is far different than the one he left in 2010.

The ideological landscape, both domestically and globally, has shifted dramatically. After Dilma Rousseff's ouster, Brazil became more polarized, with Bolsonaro's right-wing populism galvanizing large swaths of the electorate through nationalist and anti-left rhetoric. This new political environment reflects broader global trends: a backlash against what is often derisively called "wokeness" or "globalism." Right-wing populists, sovereigntists, and national-conservatives have risen in opposition to the neoliberal policies of the past few decades, creating a more fractured political order.

Our guest today, Alex, argues that this shift mirrors larger geopolitical tensions that he terms the "new Cold War." In an upcoming essay, he draws upon thinkers like Frederic Jameson and Slavoj Žižek to examine how these cultural and ideological battles are unfolding. As Alex writes:

"A succession of 'cultural logics' have been identified since Frederic Jameson first wrote about postmodernism as the logic of late capitalism in 1984. In 1997, Slavoj Žižek discoursed about multiculturalism as the cultural logic of multinational capitalism. And if you were so inclined, you could write essays arguing that the past decade has seen wokeness emerge as the cultural logic of late neoliberalism."

This notion of "wokeness" — encompassing progressive values, neoliberal economics, and the curtailment of freedoms by corporate and political interests — serves as the ideological backdrop for much of today's political polarization. Alex posits that unlike the original Cold War, which was a genuine ideological clash between capitalism and socialism, this "new Cold War" is less about systems of governance and more about capitalist competition dressed in thin ideological coatings. Whether framed as "authoritarianism versus democracy" or "stability versus chaos," the deeper struggle appears to be between nationalist forces that reject the perceived excesses of globalization and neoliberalism, and a fragmented liberal order grappling with its own contradictions.

In Brazil, Lula faces these challenges head-on. His efforts to restore progressive policies and repair the damage done by Bolsonaro are emblematic of a broader struggle against right-wing populism and anti-globalist sentiment. How Lula navigates this new political terrain will be a crucial test of whether left-wing governance can effectively counter the growing influence of right-populism and restore faith in a more egalitarian, internationalist approach to governance.

We discuss Lula da Silva's return to office in Brazil as part of a broader global context where progressive reforms face significant pushback and political landscapes have shifted.

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