Between nation and counter-revolution: the circulation and translation of anti-communism in Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay (1959-1979)

Abstract

This project aims at developing comparative research into the diffusion of the anti-communist discourse in Latin America, through the theoretical and methodological framework provided by the categories of international circulation and translation of ideas. I depart from the hypothesis that anti-communism was translated to Latin American contexts through the association with conservative strands of nationalism, which sought to reinforce traditional hierarchies, in times of popular pressures for broader political participation, fulfilling, thus, the role of a frontier of the national "imagined community", against an "other" to be expelled from it. Thereby, the term "communism" could apply to a wide range of political forces, not only to the Communist Parties (CPs) themselves. The criteria to choose the cases to be compared where, on the one hand, the centrality of anti-communism in the legitimation of the respective authoritarian regimes, and, on the other, the unequal strength of the respective CPs. Following such criteria, I chose the cases of Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. I shall work with three publications of wright-wing orientation, during similar periods: the Brazilian magazine Ação Democrática (1959-1963), the Chilean Portada (1969-1973) and the Paraguayan diary Patria (1975-1979). By analyzing the contents of these publications, I wish to map the different significates and uses of anticommunism. With this research, I seek to contribute to the comprehension of how an international ideological discourse was incorporated into various national conservative traditions. (AU)