Brazil after Bolsonaro: The Comeback of Lula da Silva

Organised by the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)

Speakers: Richard Bourne (author and editor); Thomas Traumann (journalist and political scientist); Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour (North Carolina Central University); and Luísa Calvete Portela Barbosa (Cardiff University and SOAS)
Chair: Jamille Pinheiro Dias (CLACS, ILCS); Discussant: Gabriel Bayarri (CLACS, ILCS)

This online event marks the presentation of the edited volume Brazil after Bolsonaro: The Comeback of Lula da Silva (Routledge, 2023), offering insights into Brazil's transition from an extreme right-wing populist era to the resurgence of the leftist leader Lula da Silva. Richard Bourne, renowned for his 2008 biography of Lula, leads the curation of this compilation, which encompasses a wide range of topics, including electoral outcomes, human rights, economic dynamics, the Amazon rainforest, educational paradigms, and foreign policy strategies. Diverse perspectives emerge as the contributors navigate through Lula's earlier terms, the presidencies of Dilma Rousseff, Michel Temer, and Jair Bolsonaro, culminating in Lula's triumphant comeback, fuelled by resounding support in north-eastern Brazil.

The event will be introduced by Richard Bourne, alongside Thomas Traumann, a political commentator based in Rio de Janeiro; Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour (North Carolina Central University); and Luísa Calvete Portela Barbosa (Cardiff University and SOAS). Chairing the event is CLACS director Jamille Pinheiro Dias. Responding to the presentations is Gabriel Bayarri, Newton International Fellow at CLACS.

(Editor)
An author and former journalist, Richard Bourne has been fascinated by the contemporary history of Brazil since being awarded a bursary in 1965 by the Itamaraty, the Foreign Ministry. With a leave of absence from The Guardian, he spent six months based in Rio de Janeiro, during which time he wrote Political Leaders of Latin America (Penguin 1969, Knopf 1970). Alongside his work as an educational journalist and for the Commonwealth of Nations, he wrote Getulio Vargas – Sphinx of the Pampas (Charles Knight, 1974), Assault on the Amazon (Gollancz, 1978), which focused on the Transamazonia roadbuilding and deforestation. Following his retirement, he authored Lula of Brazil – The Story So Far (University of California Press, Zed Books 2008, and Geração) and Garibaldi in South America – An Exploration (Hurst, 2020).

Thomas Traumann
A journalist and political scientist, Thomas Traumann is a political columnist for Veja magazine and the digital newspaper Poder360. Traumann served as the presidential spokesperson and Minister of Social Communication between 2011 and 2014. He is the author of O Pior Emprego do Mundo (“The Worst Job in the World” about Brazilian Finance Ministers) and the co-author of Um País Calcificado (“A Calcified Country” about political polarisation in Brazil), set to be released in December 2023.

Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour
Holder of the Dan Blue Endowed Chair at North Carolina Central University, Gladys Mitchell-Walthour has written extensively on racial politics in Brazil. Her works include The Politics of Blackness: Racial Identity and Political Behaviour in Contemporary Brazil (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Her chapter in Brazil after Bolsonaro focuses on Black mobilisation in the lead-up to Lula’s victory in 2020. During this period, some commentators noted a contrast between his overwhelming success in the northeast, where poverty and race intersect, and the southern voters who narrowly preferred Bolsonaro amid suspicions of possible racism.

Luísa Calvete Portela Barbosa  
Luísa Calvete Portela Barbosa, Lecturer on Latin American Politics and Development at Cardiff University, bases her research within a framework of critical international relations theory. Her chapter in Brazil after Bolsonaro, one of two focusing on Brazilian foreign policy, assesses whether Lula’s re-election marks any kind of return to the “pink tide” of success for the Latin American left, which coincided with his earlier terms, as well as the newer attitudes prevalent in the region.

All are welcome to attend this free event which will be held online via zoom at 6pm BST. Please register in advance by clicking Book Now at the top of the page and you will be sent the zoom joining link.