Inside and outside the State Reflections on social movements and political participation in Brazil

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the entry of social movements into the State through participatory institutions has transformed political participation in Brazil. The academic focus has expanded beyond voting and has generated analyses of repertoires of movement-State interaction, without leaving protests behind. However, other forms of collective action not linked to socio-State interaction have remained off the radar. In this essay, we begin by dividing institutionalist and autonomist perspectives to also capture collective experiences beyond, against, and in spite of the State. To this end, we draw on some empirical cases and explore a Latin American literature written in Spanish that helps us shed light on these experiences. The proposal aims to enrich the understanding of forms of political participation in Brazil and inspire new public policy instruments to address structural inequalities, as well as encourage non-State forms of social organization.