Revisiting the Lulismo and Petismo Debate: Afro-Brazilian Women Auxilio Brasil Beneficiaries and Voting in the 2022 Presidential Election

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Presented by NAVE Visiting Scholar, Gladys Mitchell-Walthour

About the presentation: This study focuses on a unique sample of Afro-Brazilian women Auxilio Brasil beneficiaries on Itaparica Island and Cachoeira, Bahia. Afro-Brazilian women make up more than a majority of social welfare program beneficiaries yet most studies on clientelism, petismo, and lulismo do not focus on this group. This study shows that these women display both petismo and lulismo as they choose the PT as the political party they are most close to, and they rate them highly. They associate the PT with democratic principles of equality. In some cases, women actually cite Lula as their political party and some view Lula and the PT as interchangeable. Another important finding is that some women believed the lives of Black people were valued and positively impacted under a PT administration. While there is evidence of retrospective evaluations to explain the expected vote choice for Lula in 2022, there is no evidence of clientelism. Women believe Lula will benefit poor people as a collective group.

As part of the Comparative Politics Colloquium.

Room 422.