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This chapter traces the development of health policies for women in Brazil from the early 1980s to the mid-2010s and examines the central role that feminist health activists have played in calling for gender health equity. This chapter argues that, while reproductive health and abortion have been central organizing issues for Brazilian feminists, they have faced major political, cultural, and religious challenges in their efforts to advance a women’s health agenda. Special attention is given to women’s health policies that were developed during the democratic transition in the mid-1980s and during the two terms of President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), Brazil’s first female president.

As part of his broader efforts to improve Brazil’s position within the international system, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) frequently invoked a rhetoric about national identity that relied heavily on football. These efforts helped Brazil win the right to host the 2014 World Cup, and Lula and his successor, Dilma Rousseff, continued to utilize rhetoric that emphasized a mythical Brazilian identity as well as the valuable legacies for the country from hosting this mega-event. Whereas this language may have helped achieve the diplomatic goals of the Workers’ Party presidents within the international system and FIFA, this rhetoric failed to persuade the domestic population, resulting in widespread protests and significant challenges inside the country. Nonetheless, by evoking rhetorical myth and elevating it within diplomatic endeavors, Presidents Lula and Rousseff used football and the hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a form of representation of identity and national policy, projecting a specific image of Brazil abroad to help achieve the goals of expanding and enhancing the country’s status.

Computational propaganda can take the form of automated accounts (bots) spreading information, algorithmic manipulation, and fake news to shape public opinion, among other methods. These techniques are being used in combination with the analysis and usage of large data sets of information about citizens held by corporations and governments. This form of propaganda is spreading to countries all over the world, most notably during the 2016 US presidential elections and the run-up to the UK’s referendum to leave the European Union (Brexit). This chapter examines the use of computational propaganda in Brazil, by looking at three recent cases: the 2014 presidential elections, the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, and the 2016 municipal elections in Rio de Janeiro. It examines the legal framework governing the Internet and the electoral process online, particularly how this process relates to computational propaganda. It also seeks to understand how bots are involved in multifarious economic and political themes, and in ongoing debates in the country about corruption, privatization, and social and economic reform. Through a collection and analysis of hashtags related to major investigations into corruption in politics, as well as to proposed reforms to social support systems and the protests related to them, the chapter identifies bots that are involved in these debates and how they operate. Finally, it looks at potential responses to this kind of propaganda, from legal, technical, and organizational perspectives, as well as indications of future trends in the use of these techniques in Brazilian society and politics.

Chapter 3 shows how the institutionalization of movement goals can sometimes look like a process of social movement absorption. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the MST’s local educational practices in areas of agrarian reform evolved into a national proposal for an alternative educational approach in the entire Brazilian countryside. This proposal, which became known as Educação do Campo (Education of the Countryside), was explicitly linked to an alternative vision for rural development. Between 2004 and 2012 this educational proposal was implemented in the Ministry of Education (MEC) through several laws, an office, and a series of programs. However, the MEC’s hierarchical organization, focus on best practices, and need to rapidly expand its educational programs undermined the MST’s ability to participate—even with a federal government historically aligned with the movement. During this period, agribusiness groups also began to embrace Educação do Campo, leading to a watering down of the original proposal.

Clara Araújo, Anna Calasanti, and Mala Htun explore the obstacles to women’s political representation in Brazil. They argue that the reasons for women’s low numbers in elected office derive from aspects of the country’s political institutions. These include candidate-centered electoral rules, the fragmentation of the party system, and decentralized nomination procedures within political parties. The high cost of political campaigns, and the interaction of incumbency and access to television time for candidates, augment these barriers. Despite their low numbers, women in elected office have worked together through a women’s caucus in Congress (bancada feminina) to promote legislation on women’s rights issues.

This chapter discusses institutional deepening and the subsequent economic and political outcomes in the two terms of Lula and first term of Dilma. It also advances three main arguments. First, markets, as evidenced by exchange rate movements, did not anticipate the smooth political transition process from Cardoso to Lula. High uncertainty about a Lula presidency was the norm. After the initial shock resulting from the electoral results, Lula drastically reduced uncertainty by providing credible evidence that his administration would not abandon fiscal and monetary orthodoxy. Second, the new beliefs and institutions effectively constrained political and economic elites in their interaction, thereby enabling competitive processes in the political and economic arenas. The established political institutions locked-in and reinforced the direction of change by affecting the incentives facing individuals, organizations, and politicians.

This chapter lays out a brief conceptual dynamic to interpret the past fifty years in Brazil. Its framework rests on tying together the key concepts of windows of opportunity, beliefs, dominant network, leadership, institutions, and outcomes. The chapter argues that it is the dynamics of the concepts that led to institutional change in Brazil and in turn a new trajectory. It then discusses the important dominant networks in power, along with their beliefs, in four periods: 1964–1984 (the military years); 1985–1993 (the early years back to democracy); 1993–2002 (Fernando Henrique Cardoso's presidency); and 2002–2014 (the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff years).