“A Matter of Life Or Death” an Intersectional Study on Black Women’S Political Participation in Brazil

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“A Matter of Life Or Death” an Intersectional Study on Black Women’S Political Participation in Brazil “A matter of life or death” An intersectional study on black women’s political participation in Brazil Department of Romance Studies and Classics Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies Master’s thesis 30 credits Master’s degree in Latin American Studies (120 credits) Spring term 2020 Supervisor: Thaïs Machado Borges “A matter of life or death” An intersectional study on black women’s political participation in Brazil Abstract Brazil is in the 132nd position in the ranking for female parliamentary participation according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s latest report (2019). Black women are the ones least involved in national politics. In the state of São Paulo 94 state Deputies were elected in 2018, of these only 11 are women and only 3 are black. This research looks at black female political participation in Brazil, focusing on political engagement in the state and municipality of São Paulo. It employs black feminist theory to investigate the hindrances for black women’s political participation. Intersectionality and political science theories were used as part of the theoretical framework. The research question explored was: “What are the obstacles for black female political participation in Brazil?”. This question is connected to larger issues of gender, race, class, political representation and participation. Semi-structured interviews with black women engaged with institutional politics were conducted, followed by a thematic analysis. The research found four main obstacles preventing a greater participation of black women in politics. The issue of visibility, that is, having enough social capital to gain attention from voters, prevents many black women from receiving support by their political parties. Having a network is also said to be important for those starting in politics, as it can give them the necessary visibility to grow in their political parties. Political education is considered an important tool to have a successful candidacy and is currently overlooked by political parties. Finally, financial investment is said to be underprovided to black female candidates. The interviews show that the obstacles presented are linked to structural racism and sexism within the political parties and in society. Despite their personal investment and engagement, black women are often demeaned. They are perceived as not capable of being good politicians. The oppressions they suffer for their race, gender and class are also experienced in the political arena. They are often silenced as political subjects, but they keep fighting back. Keywords Black women in politics, female political participation, black feminism, intersectionality, Brazil, intersectional research. Acknowledgements Thank you, Luisa, Dandara, Anastácia and Teresa for sharing your story and experiences with me. You inspire me and so many others. I would like to thank the Swedish Institute for granting me the chance to study in Sweden and writing this thesis at the Nordic Institute of Latin American Studies. Thank you, my supervisor Thais, for all the input and advice during the research process. I thank all my friends in Sweden, my extended family, for the love and support to finish this project. A special thank you to Alma, Marina, Isadora and Nikos for the good laughs and long talks that always encouraged me to be the best version of myself. Finally, I would like to thank my family, who taught me to always fight for my dreams. My grandma, who herself could never attend school, would have enjoyed listening to the stories of black women that like her made their life a struggle for a better world. Grandma this thesis is for you and for all the ancestors. Table of Contents 1.Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Aim and research questions ........................................................................ 2 1.3 Previous Research ..................................................................................... 3 1.3.1Feminism in Latin America ........................................................................ 3 1.3.2 Women and political participation in Latin America ...................................... 5 1.3.3 Female Political Participation in Brazil ........................................................ 6 1.3.4 Race in Latin America .............................................................................. 8 2.Theoretical Background ...................................................................... 10 2.1 Social Dynamics and Institutional Challenges in female political participation .......10 2.1.2 Women in politics: supply and demand explanations ..................................11 2.2 Black feminist thought ..................................................................................14 2.2.1 Afro-Brazilian women’s movement ...........................................................15 2.2.2 Intersectionality .....................................................................................17 3. Methodological Framework ............................................................... 19 3.1 Methodology and Research Design .................................................................19 3.2 Interviews and Analysis ................................................................................21 3.3 Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................22 4. Analysis and discussion of results ..................................................... 23 4.1 Life story: political interest and involvement....................................................24 4.2 Visibility ......................................................................................................30 4.3 Network ......................................................................................................36 4.4 Political education ........................................................................................40 4.5 Financial Investment ....................................................................................45 5. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 48 References ............................................................................................ 52 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................ 58 List of Abbreviations ALESP Assembléia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo (Legislative Assembly of the state of São Paulo) BLM Black Lives Matter CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women F.B.P.F Federação Brasileira para o Progresso Feminino (Brazilian Federation for the Female Progress) IBGE Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) LAPOP Latin American Public Opinion Project MDB Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (Democratic Brazilian Movement) PNAD Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (National Household Sample Survey) TSE Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Superior Electoral Tribunal) 1.Introduction Latin America has struggled to increase the number of women in political positions. Since the democratization processes in the 80s only six women were elected president. Patriarchy still guides personal and institutional relations, leading to an absence of women in positions of power and trust. Brazil, the largest and richest country in the region, has followed this pattern. Only one woman was ever elected president: Dilma Rousseff. She was impeached in 2015 and suffered sexist attacks from men and women in the government, and in the media while the impeachment process happened. Adding to the complex equation of political participation in Brazil there is the so-called institutional racism. Even though most of the Brazilian population is of African descendancy and considered black or of mixed ethnicity, racism is a daily obstacle for black people who decide to embrace politics. Female black politicians are the least present in the Brazilian political system. Their disproportional participation in politics reflects the obstacle that Latin American political systems must overcome in order to have democracies that welcome all. This thesis is divided in five chapters. In the first one an introduction to the topic of study is presented as well as the aim and research questions and previous research on parallel subjects. In the second chapter I present the theoretical framework. The third chapter presents the methodological framework. The fourth chapter presents the data gathered through the analysis and discussion of results. Finally, the fifth chapter presents the conclusion of this study. 1.1 Background Brazil is in the 132nd position regarding female parliamentary participation according to the Inter- Parliamentary Union’s latest report (2019). Black women are the ones least involved in national politics. At the latest legislative elections, in 2018, the Congress elected 53 senators from which only 12 are women and two who declared themselves as pardas (mixed ethnicity). The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members: 77 are women, and only 13 of them declared themselves as black (TSE 2019). In the State of São Paulo 94 State Deputies were elected in 2018, of these only 11 are women and only 3 are black. 1 According to the latest Brazilian Census, pretos (black) and pardos (mixed ethnicity)
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