This project seeks to explore how politics is conducted in the digital world. Through systematic readings and exchanges on the content and methodologies of individual research projects, we aim to collectively address how democracy has transformed in the digital age. Without embracing technological determinism, we focus on understanding how complex changes in information and communication systems have affected the ongoing processes of democratization and de-democratization. We examine the impact of internet use, particularly social media, on the different ways politics is conducted during election periods: within political parties, in government, in legislative mandates held by professional politicians, across state sectors in policy formulation and implementation, in law enforcement, in digital activism, in the blend of online and street-based collective actions, in political culture, and in the participation of everyday citizens in political life. We also want to understand the agency of these political actors and how they leverage information technology to advance their goals and interests.

Participants (Center)

NEPAC/UNICAMP: Ana Cláudia Chaves Teixeira, Fernanda Polidoro Paiva, Geraldo Homero, Vinícius Sturari e Mariana Benate

The Núcleo de Extensão em Pesquisa Social Aplicada (Center for Applied Social Research Extension) aims to create a space for dialogue between social organizations and researchers, fostering knowledge production processes that address social needs while offering professional training through active involvement in applied social research projects.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Eduarda Paz Trindade, Elizabeth Cristiane Mendonça Azevedo, Flavia Maoli Magalhães de Oliveira, Gerson de Lima Oliveira, Ivone dos Passos Maio, Luan Homem Belomo, Marcelo Kunrath Silva.

This study aims to map and characterize the patterns of ethnic-territorial associativism in the Baixo Amazonas region. We believe that understanding the repertoires of associativism rooted in ethnicity and territory – along with their social bases and claims – adds valuable depth to the literature on participation and social movements. By emphasizing territorial conflicts, territorialities, and ethnicities as essential mobilizing resources, this approach addresses gaps often present in certain areas of academic work in this field. The final outputs from the research group will highlight the collective, solidarity-driven, and resistance-oriented ways of life of Amazonian peoples as a means of opposing economic policies that erode rights, degrade the environment, and threaten their traditional territories.

Participants (Center)

UFAM: Sandra Damasceno da Rocha, Sandra Helena da Silva, Juliana da Silva Ferreira, Luciana Paula Benetti.

The ISP Observatory, part of INCT Participa, is a platform designed to be developed, maintained, and continuously updated through a collaborative network. It seeks to collect and share information, data, and insights on private social investment and institutionalized philanthropy in Brazil. This initiative connects scientific, academic, and applied research on the sector with various stakeholders, working to promote a more just and equitable society by using knowledge to guide private resources toward the public good.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Amanda Kovalczuk, Carla Michele Rech, Flavia Maoli Magalhães de Oliveira, Gerson de Lima Oliveira, Ivone dos Passos Maio, Marcelo Kunrath Silva, Róbson Rocha, Cristiano Nicola Ferreira, Lívia Lima, Stephani Santos

The study seeks to understand how community associations promote political education practices that contribute to strengthening democracy in Global South contexts. In this sense, the research aims to answer two central questions: 1. What roles do community-based associations in Brazil and Cape Verde play in political education for democracy at the local level? 2. What are the specific processes that contribute to the promotion of democratic pedagogies within these associations? The general objective is to understand the political education for democracy developed by associations, with emphasis on the democratic pedagogies underlying their organizational dynamics. As specific objectives, I seek to: (1) trace and identify evidence of the consolidation of community associativism in Brazil and Cape Verde; (2) analyze the historical trajectory of these associations, considering mobilization, rules, repertoires, and narratives over time; and (3) explain organizational changes in the pedagogical processes aimed at promoting democracy at the local level. The hypotheses guiding the research are: H1 – community-based associations contribute to democratic deepening by developing democratic pedagogies integrated into their dynamics; H2 – the political engagement promoted by associations strengthens participation in both community and institutional spaces, expanding grassroots democratic practices.

Participants (Center)

LAPID/UFAL: Rachel Carvalho, Leonardo Leal

This research project aims to understand the formation and actions of Brazil’s Evangelical Parliamentary Front (FPE) from 2003 to 2022.
Given the significant demographic growth of Protestant and Evangelical segments in Brazilian society since the 1980s, the study aims to examine the positions and roles these representatives hold within the spaces and structures of power in Brazilian society.
It focuses on the origins and resources mobilized in the religious and political trajectories of legislators who are or have been part of the FPE, exploring how their religious affiliations and corresponding material and symbolic assets are reinterpreted and politicized through different forms of associativism and engagement in the national political arena.

Participants (Center)

NPMS/UFSC: Lucas Silveira de Moura

This study seeks to analyze the political participation of Black university students in Brazil from 1993 to 2019. The first National Seminar of Black University Students (SENUN) was held in 1993, bringing together students to discuss the role of Black individuals in higher education. Since then, other significant channels for Black student political participation have emerged, such as the National Meetings of Black Students and Quota Beneficiaries of the National Union of Students (ENUNE) in 2007, and the National Meeting of Black Students and Student Collectives (EECUN) in 2016. This process of student political organization coincided with the expansion of affirmative action in higher education nationwide; however, there are notable differences between these movements, particularly in their relationships with political parties. The study will analyze this trajectory using theories on racial relations and social movements.

Participants (Center)

NEPAC/UNICAMP: Rodger Richer de Santana Rocha

The literature on the relationships between religion and social movements, militant engagement, and associativism – both in Brazil and internationally – has identified and analyzed various mechanisms through which religious organizations and agents influence political organization and mobilization processes. These important contributions in the literature generally view religious agency in popular organization and mobilization processes as a source of “resources” that support these processes. Without rejecting or downplaying the value of these contributions, this project seeks to analyze how two central dimensions of political organization and mobilization – identity processes and the moral foundations of action – are (re)configured in contexts where the sacred becomes politicized, and politics becomes sacralized.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Clarananda da Silva Barreira, Elizabeth Cristiane Mendonça Azevedo, Felipe da Luz Colomé.

This study seeks to understand the different forms of activism among university students in Florianópolis, Brazil. The focus is on the phenomenon of multiple militancy, aiming to understand the relationships between different types of activist engagement, which span various causes, vocabularies, and principles of action.

Participants (Center)

NPMS/UFSC: Beatriz Mara Momm, Brenda Gonçalves Andujas, Mariana Lick da Silva, Miguel Hotzel Ruther

This study addresses the collective mandates elected by PSOL in 2020, which aim to decentralize and depersonalize the legislator’s role by promoting collective representation within a structure that traditionally centralizes power in a single individual. It seeks to analyze how these mandates managed internal party conflicts and how this interaction affected both the organization of parliamentary offices and the electoral strategies for future campaigns. Through a comparative case study approach, the study focuses on the challenges and opportunities inherent in transforming political representation through collective action. The main hypothesis suggests that collective mandates serve more to develop political leaders competing within the party than to bring about true organizational change in the legislative branch.

Participants (Center)

NPMS/UFSC: Brenda Gonçalves Andujas

This research proposal aims to examine the conditions that enabled corruption to emerge and circulate as a public issue, involving a range of organizations, actors, and their respective conflicts and struggles. First, the analysis focuses on the role of non-state agencies dedicated to control and transparency, with particular attention to international agencies and actors, NGOs, transnational movements, and the expansion of transnational law. Second, it explores how the fight against corruption has taken on a technical dimension, centered on specialized solutions and measures, becoming a key area of national institutional policy through the development of targeted public policies. Finally, it seeks to describe and analyze cases of initiatives, organizations, associations, and political leaders who intensively leverage the fight against corruption.

Participants (Center)

LEPP/UFS: Coordenação: Fernanda Rios Petrarca, Wilson José Ferreira de Oliveira. Participantes: Adrielma Silveira Fortuna dos Santos, Arthur Ives Nunes da Mota Lima, Carlos Henrique Filgueiras Prata de Almeida, Elisa Beatriz Gomes do Nascimento, Fagner dos Santos Bomfim, Italo Eugenio Santos de Castro, Jonatha Vasconcelos Santos, Josefa Yasminn Barbosa Ribeiro, Pâmella Synthia Santana Santos, Saulo Vinicius Souza Barbosa.

The project involves three areas of work, analytically connected by a critique of the tendency to characterize civil society politics as pre-political or as possessing distinctive and morally superior characteristics compared to those that drive traditional politics. In contrast, the project proposes a systematic study of politics within civil society, avoiding characterizations that were deduced a priori from theory. The first area focuses on participatory governance structures, aiming to explore the role of civil organizations that do not hold seats on policy councils but have a stake in policies that may be affected by councils’ decisions. The second area focuses on the decisions made within policy councils. Finally, the third area examines how the heterogeneity of civil society operates from a demographic or population perspective, characterizing the organizational ecologies involved.

Participants (Center)

NDAC/Cebrap: Adrian Gurza Lavalle, Alexandre Fontenelle-Weber, Alina da Silva Ribeiro, Ana Claudia Cortez, Beatriz Rodrigues Sanchez, Carla de Paiva Bezerra, Gabriela de Brelaz, Leonardo Ângelo de Araújo Andrade, Maira Rodrigues, Marco Antonio de Paula Filho, Maria do Carmo Albuquerque, Matheus Del'Arco Pinzan, Pedro Crepaldi Carlessi, Rodrigo Martins da Silva, Victoria Lustosa Braga, Wanderson Felício de Souza.

This study, designed jointly by the Núcleo de Pesquisa sobre Participação, Movimentos Sociais e Ação Coletiva (NEPAC) at Unicamp and Professor Lívia De Tommasi (UFABC), aims to explore and refresh the theoretical debate and address the methodological challenges of studying civil society’s heterogeneity and its interactions with the state and the market. In the 1970s and 1980s, debates on civil society primarily centered on the role of social movements in democracy. Today, however, the proliferation and diversity of forms of associativism across various territories calls for new perspectives. This landscape includes churches from various religious and political backgrounds; far-right sectors operating in different associations; foundations, business institutes, and impact enterprises; traditional and contemporary philanthropic sectors; collectives organizing via social media; and traditional social movements and NGOs, among others. These groups organize the territories, mobilize public and private resources, engage in political participation, and influence elections, operating across various areas of rights and philanthropy. Moreover, the Brazilian state and the market, through “partnerships” with organizations at all levels of the federation, have not only absorbed values and projects from these institutions but have also influenced their activities in return. Through systematic readings and idea exchange on the content and methodologies of individual research projects, we aim to collectively examine how civil associativism has evolved and transformed society.

Participants (Center)

NEPAC/UNICAMP: Ana Cláudia Chaves Teixeira, Adriana Cattai Pismel.

The main objective of this project is to analyze the participation of women, as candidates, in the Brazilian electoral process from the redemocratization period to the 2024 election. Given the historical characteristics of women’s participation in Brazil and the body of studies already developed at LEPP/UFS on the political groupings of Sergipe and their transformations in recent years, as well as the available evidence and research since redemocratization, the project seeks to investigate the relationships between women’s entry and permanence in politics and the processes of recomposition of alliance systems among the main political groupings and leaders in Sergipe. The aim, therefore, is to demonstrate that the asymmetries in the construction of candidacies, in access to resources for electoral competition, and in electoral success rates—as well as the compliance of party lists, campaign financing, and practices with current legislation—are closely linked to the dynamics of structuring and reconfiguring family-based politics in Sergipe.

Participants (Center)

LEPP/UFS: Coordenação: Fernanda Rios Petrarca, Wilson José Ferreira de Oliveira. Participantes: Adrielma Silveira Fortuna dos Santos, Pâmella Synthia Santana Santos, Andressa Brito de Jesus, Ana Lara Divina Barbosa Reyes, Annie Letícia Andrade Mendes Conceição, Evelyn Letícia Andrade Santos, Isa Lorena de Jesus Souza Santos, Nicoline Oliveira Leão, Vanessa Silva da Anunciação, Maria Rebeca Silva Santana, Everton da Costa dos Santos, Adriele Vitórica Silveira Santos, Nicolle Stefhny Viana da Silva

In recent years, Brazilian football has seen various collective mobilization processes emerge. Although there is substantial academic research in Brazil on inequality and power dynamics within the sport, studies specifically focused on collective mobilization within the sport remain limited. Also, existing research on these mobilizations often lacks connection to the research fields on activism, protests, and social movements. This investigation aims to bridge this gap by analyzing the diverse forms of activism in Brazilian football, while also engaging with the broader Brazilian literature on activism, mobilization, and political contention.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Eduardo Georjão Fernandes, Gerson de Lima Oliveira, Matheus Mazzilli Pereira, Valentina Arnold
RESOCIE/UNB: Eduardo Georjão Fernandes, Liz Santos, Luana Lacerda, Maria Eduarda Fernandes

The debate on the agrarian issue in Brazil is crucial for understanding the territorial and environmental dynamics shaped by diverse land and resource uses. These processes reveal competing projects on rural development and expose different social relations of production, often marked by conflicts and tensions. This has fuelled the emergence and actions of socio-territorial movements that contest territorial claims and resist, directly influencing the development and implementation of public policies to improve living conditions in rural areas. To this end, a series of studies is proposed to examine the multiple connections between agrarian issues, socio-territorial movements, and public policies, focusing on the scales, actions, and strategies involved.

Participants (Center)

Labrural/UFRN: Leandro Cavalcante, Joana Moura, Matheus Gomes

In Brazil’s soybean agribusiness, corporate environmental governance initiatives – such as certifications, agreements, and corporate partnerships –promise to make supply chains more “sustainable”, emerging in response to criticisms that link commodity production to various environmental problems. A growing body of social sciences literature underscores the need for approaches that account for the complexity of actors, practices, and technologies in agro-food chains, emphasizing that the production of information has become a new form of government. Corporate environmental governance in Brazil’s soybean supply chain activates various norms, metrics, and public reporting methods to showcase companies’ environmental performance, resulting in multiple ways of performing what the key current environmental issues are and defining what constitutes “sustainability”. Understanding how these corporate environmental governance arrangements operate within the soybean supply chain, the specific conceptions of “sustainability” they promote, and how disputes over environmental governance practices are shaped within the agro-food sector is therefore crucial.

Participants (Center)

TEMAS/UFRGS: Alessandra Lamana Waschburger, ngela Camana, Marília Luz David

This project examines the consequences of social movements on public policies and institutions, and their cultural effects on civil society activism within the context of democratization.

Participants (Center)

NUPAD/UFES: Euzeneia Carlos, Andrei Sarcineli Pimenta, Daniela Neves de Oliveira, Daniela Rosa de Oliveira, Gabriela Zorzal, Alexsander Fonseca Araújo, Jeferson Margon, Luciane Aparecida Bolda, Alexsander Fonseca Araújo, Nara Mascarenhas Barbosa, Paula Ferrario Traba, Veronica Cunha Bezerra.

This study seeks to explore new analytical approaches and research methods for studying collectives by analyzing their organizational structure (such as level of organization and financial structure), tactics for action and political mobilization (including repertoires of action and interaction), and socialization experiences (repertoire of reception).

Participants (Center)

NUPAD/UFES: Marcelo de Souza Marques, Isabela Kerner de Melo, Mayara Piassi Gaburro.

Since the June 2013 protests, Brazilian politics has been marked by significant upheavals. The landscape of activism, once dominated by the left, has become more diverse with the rise of right-wing social movements. Abrupt shifts in the political coalition, resulting from President Rousseff’s removal from office and the election of a far-right government in 2018, are key achievements of this activism. The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted the political scene, sparking intense disputes over how to handle the health crisis. This project is driven by the following question: what is the relationship between this series of political crises and the reconfigurations of political activism in Brazil? We propose that these reconfigurations are rooted in three interconnected processes: a) shifts in the political coalition that marginalize some actors while empowering others; b) changes in the organization of policy subsystems where activists operate; and c) an ideational dispute over the political crisis and the nature of democracy. Activists both vie for this meaning and are shaped by the meanings that have already been established. To examine the dynamics of ideational dispute and activist reconfiguration, we analyze changes in the strategies, repertoires, and frames of actors interacting with the political system. We focus on three particularly contentious issues today: deforestation, reproductive and sexual rights, and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose a mixed-methods research design to compare the processes of change related to these three themes over the past decade.

Participants (Center)

RESOCIE/UNB: Amanda Barcelos Mota, Amanda Maciel Matos, Ana Carolina Vaz da Silva Anne Karoline Rodrigues Vieira, Débora Rezende Almeida, Gabriel Santos Elias, Gustavo Rodrigues Mesquita, Lorena Vilarins dos Santos, Lucas Souza Lacerda Mariana de Souza Fonseca, Mariana Miranda Tavares e Marina Ferreira de Araujo Fernandes, Pedro Burity Borges, Rafael Gonçalves De Toni, Rafael Rocha Viana, Rebecca Neaera Abers.

The primary goals of this study are: a) to explore the dynamics of conflicts between movements and counter-movements in women’s activisms in Brazil, as well as their interactions with the Brazilian state in its various relational configurations; and b) to analyze how activists evaluate their impact relative to the outcomes they have achieved. Specifically, the study seeks to capture the strategies, agendas, and responses of both feminist and anti-feminist movements regarding women’s rights, considering the progress made from an emancipatory perspective as well as the “reflux” associated with the rise of neoconservatism and Brazil’s democratic crisis. This crisis, which has intensified since the 2016 parliamentary coup, has led to backsliding in gender equality policies. To carry out this comprehensive investigation, encompassing multiple research fronts, the following steps will be taken: a) a literature review; b) collection of materials produced by civil society organizations; c) collection of journalistic materials related to women’s protests to supplement LA PROTESTA, a database on protests in Brazil; d) quantitative and qualitative analysis (Protest Event Analysis) of data from LA PROTESTA; e) semi-structured interviews with feminist and anti-feminist activists; and f) interpretative analysis of these interviews.

Participants (Center)

NEPAC/UNICAMP: Isabella Assunção de Oliveira Andrade, Luana Loureiro Cruz, Maria Luiza Costa Sobreira.

Aligned with the global Sustainable Development Goals agenda, researchers, social movements, and policymakers are increasingly interested in discussing strategies for transitioning to sustainable and healthy food systems. A central issue in this debate is how food activism by rural and urban social movements can contribute to a new generation of public policies. In Brazil, this issue has become even more relevant due to rising food insecurity, compelling these movements to expand and diversify their economic strategies for accessing sustainable and healthy food. To contribute to this discussion, the project brings together a network of researchers to address the following question: to what extent do the food activism strategies of these social movements converge to form a framework that can guide the development of a new generation of food policies? The guiding hypothesis of this investigation proposes a convergence around a framework that connects healthy food consumption with food and environmental justice. This hypothesis will be tested through a comparative analysis of food activism strategies in the metropolitan regions of Belém, Manaus, Natal, São Luís, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, and Porto Alegre. These cities were selected based on three criteria: diverse regional dynamics, histories of activism and food policies, and the team’s prior research expertise. The comparative analysis will be structured using an analytical matrix composed of variables and indicators applicable to all cases. To develop this matrix and support the execution and dissemination of results, the project will collaborate with the Food for Justice research group at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and the Laboratório Urbano de Políticas Públicas Alimentares (Urban Laboratory for Food Policy, Luppa) associated with the Instituto Comida do Amanhã.

Participants (Center)

SOPAS/UFRGS: Paulo André Niederle (coordenador); Maycon Noremberg Schubert; Luíza Tavares; Vitória Giovana Duarte; Marília Luz David; Liége Disconzi Rodrigues; Pamela Kenne; Eduarda Paz Trindade; Julia Menin; Natália Vencato de Paula; Renata Campos Motta; Ângela Camana

The climate crisis is a phenomenon that affects social groups unequally, especially political minorities. A growing body of research has highlighted the intersectional impacts of climate change on women’s lives, particularly given their disproportionate responsibility for the care of children and the elderly (Staggenborg & Togami, 2022; Terry, 2009; Zape, 2023). Power and decision-making structures related to climate change also reproduce women’s underrepresentation in politics and are predominantly occupied by men, according to data from the Gender and Climate Working Group. In the context of the upcoming COP 30 in Pará, this research seeks to understand how political discussions on climate inequality from a gendered and intersectional perspective have been addressed in the Amazon. It is guided by the following questions: how has this relationship been taken up within legislative bodies in the states of the Legal Amazon? Are there legislative proposals that address the gendered dimensions of climate change? How are women’s organizations focused on climate justice articulating their actions?

Participants (Center)

UFPA/GCODES: Rayza Sarmento, Evellyn Damasceno, Diego Coelho, Helena Saria, Kamila Leal.

This project aims to analyze the political and epistemological roles that Sociology, as a discourse, has played and represented in Brazilian studies on climate change, particularly in the context of the growing trend toward interdisciplinary research on this issue.

Participants (Center)

TEMAS/UFRGS: Gabriel Bandeira Coelho.

The COVID-19 pandemic was both a health and political crisis, marked by the politicization of the pandemic itself. The Bolsonaro government’s denialist stance, with its refusal to implement a coordinated strategy to combat the virus, exacerbated this situation. This research project aims to understand how organized civil society responded to the state’s refusal to effectively address the crisis. The research will be guided by the following question: how did Brazilian civil society react to the denialist far-right, which spread misinformation during the pandemic? Our approach focuses on four interconnected lines of analysis: a) the intense mobilization of mutual aid efforts during the pandemic’s early months; b) advocacy efforts aimed at securing laws and public policies to help protect the population from the virus; c) online mobilization during the investigations conducted at the COVID Parliamentary Committee of Investigation (CPI); and d) the efforts of overlapping networks advocating for the rights of COVID-19 victims and their families. To explore these dynamics, we analyze shifts in tactics and framing used by social movements that emerged in defense of the pandemic’s victims. This study adopts a mixed-methods research design to compare the various forms of mobilization during the pandemic’s critical phase and the post-pandemic period.

Participants (Center)

RESOCIE/UNB: Amanda Barcelos Mota, Amanda Maciel Matos, Ana Carolina Vaz da Silva, Gabriel Santos Elias, Lorena Vilarins dos Santos, Maria Eduarda Batalha Lima, Mariana de Souza Fonseca, Mariana Miranda Tavares, Pedro Burity Borges, Rafael Rocha Viana, Rebecca Neaera Abers; Marisa von Bülow

This collaborative study examines the control of demonstrations in Brazil, focusing on the capitals of the country’s five regions. Bringing together experts in social movements and protests along with specialists in policing and public security, the project examines a key issue in contemporary Brazilian democracy: the relationship between political protest and policies to control public order. The central working hypothesis is that, beginning in June 2013, new protest configurations on both the left and right, coupled with the shifting political landscapes under the Dilma Rousseff and Jair Bolsonaro administrations, have led to adaptations and innovations in policing, legal frameworks, and judicial systems, leading to lasting impacts on the practice of protest in Brazilian democracy. The study seeks to expand the analytical perspective to encompass the full range of strategies and tactics employed by various state actors, both at local and federal levels, involved in controlling protests. These actors include governments (executive and legislative branches), security forces (police and armed forces), and judicial institutions. The study aims to document and analyze: 1) the political process of protest control under the Dilma Rousseff and Jair Bolsonaro administrations; 2) the street-level interactions between police officers and protesters, with attention to processes of radicalization, polarization, as well as police selectivity and learning; 3) organizational processes of adaptation and innovation within police, legal, and judicial repertoires for addressing protests; and 4) the consequences of police and legal repression on the trajectories of activists and activism in Brazil.

Participants 

GPACE/UFRGS: Eduardo Georjão Fernandes, Fernanda Camargo
RESOCIE/UNB: Eduardo Georjão Fernandes, Bianca Chaves, Eduarda Almeida, Tainara Alves, Erykson Dyego Sarafim

This analysis of protest events aims to illuminate the connections between street politics and institutional politics, focusing on the relationships between protests, regimes, and political opportunities. By examining variables such as actors, repertoires, demands, targets, scope, and conflict level of protests, the study provides a unique overview of mobilizations in Brazil and their transformations over 22 years from 2000 to 2022. The study uses a unique database of protest events in Brazil, compiled from reports published in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo. This project builds on an existing database (Tatagiba and Galvão, 2019; Tatagiba and Carvalho, 2024) and expands it to include protests reported by the press from 2000 to 2009.

Participants (Center)

NEPAC/UNICAMP: Gabriela Taboni Lisboa, Jordy Pereira Melo, Larissa Pereira de Melo, Leonardo Xavier Nascimento, Luciana Ferreira Tatagiba, Natália de Jesus Trindade, Wellynton Samuel Oliveira de Souza.

This study aims to examine the relationship between structural racism and land policy through a case study of land allocation policies for quilombola communities in Rio Grande do Sul. To understand how racial selectivity manifests in the implementation of land regularization policies for quilombola territories in this Brazilian state, we pursue two main objectives: a) to identify and map how racial selectivity operates within the legal process, examining all stages and levels of government involved in implementing this policy; and b) to analyze how quilombola communities experience racial selectivity as they fight for their rights.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Camila Penna de Castro,  Cristiano Neves da Rosa, Eduarda Paz Trindade, Leonardo da Rocha Bezerra de Souza, Luan Homem Belomo.

This research project explores the impact of denialist positions on Brazil’s COVID-19 health crisis, which was compounded by conflicts between the federal government and other branches of power. These positions resonate not only within government circles but also across various sectors of organized society. Building on authors like N. Oreskes, this study proposes a sociology of attacks on scientific institutions, defining denialism as coordinated efforts to discredit scientific findings. We also examine how institutions in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul have responded to pandemic and climate-related disasters. The project is grounded in the interconnection between democracy and science, emphasizing the populist exploitation of science, particularly by far-right ideologues. In the face of rising scientific populism, we argue that universities need to balance upholding their authority with addressing legitimate criticisms.

Participants (Center)

NDAC/Cebrap: José Szwako, Murilo Souto Maior.

This project examines how science is used and mobilized in the formulation of the institutional governance of Brazil’s climate policy, with a focus on federal policy instruments designed to address climate change. In line with discussions in Science and Technology Social Studies, particularly those on the co-production of science, society, and nature, as well as literature on state and public policies, this project focuses on the intersections between science, institutional activism, and environmentalism in Brazilian climate policy. Methodologically, the analysis relies on field research, supported by interviews, direct observation, and document analysis. The project begins with a systematic survey of the instruments that make up Brazil’s current federal climate policy, which will support a content analysis of the legislation to identify how scientific concepts are used and mobilized within these instruments. It will also enable an analysis of the sociotechnical network surrounding these instruments, identifying key points of mediation – such as studies, documents, government agencies, and civil society organizations – that are crucial for their formulation and implementation. Subsequently, the project will conduct interviews and direct observation to explore the agencies, interests, and conflicts that have been either stabilized or contested within Brazil’s governance structure of climate change mitigation policies. The expected results aim to clarify science’s role in shaping Brazil’s climate policies, scientists’ position within policymaking processes, the controversies and conflicts surrounding climate policies, and who mobilizes science in these disputes and how.

Participants (Center)

TEMAS/UFRGS: André Trevisol Trindade, Camila Cabrera, Camila Delagnese Prates, Frederico Salmi, Lásaro Thiesen, Lorena Cândido Fleury.
GPACE/UFRGS: Gerson de Lima Oliveira, Luan Homem Belomo.

This research project aims to understand how agrarian social movements are incorporating the issue of climate change into their mobilization strategies for struggles over land and territories. It seeks to analyze the narratives, discourses, and collective actions that attempt to articulate the agrarian question with the environmental question. The theoretical framework is grounded in critical Latin American social thought, drawing on debates within the fields of social sciences and geography. We mobilize the perspective of political ecology to articulate theory and political action. Methodologically, the research will involve semi-structured interviews with representatives of agrarian movements, analysis of news coverage and social media (Instagram, Facebook), as well as documents produced and made available by the movements themselves. In addition, we propose conducting fieldwork, to be defined, in order to explore these issues in greater depth through participant observation. The project also seeks to contribute to the formulation of public policies for sustainable rural development, from the perspective of the subjects who experience their territories, recognizing the production of knowledge by social movements, their imaginaries, and their social practices.

Participants (Center)

UFRN/LABRURAL: Joana Moura, Marcos Aurélio Freire da SIlva Júnior, Bruna Torquato

This research project focuses on the socio-state interactions established by feminist movements in Pará, particularly those operating in the state capital. We seek to understand the strategies and repertoires of action of the organized movement—in its multiple forms and configurations—in its engagement with society and the state. The research is grounded in a qualitative and interpretive approach, structured around three main axes. The first axis involves the collection and analysis of Pará’s traditional media, such as the newspapers O Liberal and Diário do Pará, focusing on reports about the activities of feminist groups in the state. Next, we will analyze the social media pages of these groups on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Both dimensions will be examined through frame analysis. They will help us understand how the movement constructs its own interpretations and references, as well as how traditional media in Pará name women political actors, frame demands, and construct meaning-making frameworks. We also aim to follow public demonstrations organized by the movements and to conduct in-depth interviews with political actors responsible for the organization and mobilization of events and groups.

Participants (Center)

UFPA/GCODES: Rayza Sarmento, Evellyn Damasceno, Diego Coelho, Helena Saria, Kamila Leal.

This research project focuses on the socio-state interactions established by feminist movements in Pará, particularly those operating in the state capital. We seek to understand the strategies and repertoires of action of the organized movement—in its multiple forms and configurations—in its engagement with society and the state. The research is grounded in a qualitative and interpretive approach, structured around three main axes. The first axis involves the collection and analysis of Pará’s traditional media, such as the newspapers O Liberal and Diário do Pará, focusing on reports about the activities of feminist groups in the state. Next, we will analyze the social media pages of these groups on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Both dimensions will be examined through frame analysis. They will help us understand how the movement constructs its own interpretations and references, as well as how traditional media in Pará name women political actors, frame demands, and construct meaning-making frameworks. We also aim to follow public demonstrations organized by the movements and to conduct in-depth interviews with political actors responsible for the organization and mobilization of events and groups.

Participants (Center)

UFPA/GCODES: Rayza Sarmento, Evellyn Damasceno, Diego Coelho, Helena Saria, Kamila Leal.

This research project focuses on the socio-state interactions established by feminist movements in Pará, particularly those operating in the state capital. We seek to understand the strategies and repertoires of action of the organized movement—in its multiple forms and configurations—in its engagement with society and the state. The research is grounded in a qualitative and interpretive approach, structured around three main axes. The first axis involves the collection and analysis of Pará’s traditional media, such as the newspapers O Liberal and Diário do Pará, focusing on reports about the activities of feminist groups in the state. Next, we will analyze the social media pages of these groups on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Both dimensions will be examined through frame analysis. They will help us understand how the movement constructs its own interpretations and references, as well as how traditional media in Pará name women political actors, frame demands, and construct meaning-making frameworks. We also aim to follow public demonstrations organized by the movements and to conduct in-depth interviews with political actors responsible for the organization and mobilization of events and groups.

Participants (Center)

UFPA/GCODES: Rayza Sarmento, Evellyn Damasceno, Diego Coelho, Helena Saria, Kamila Leal.

This research project aims to shed light on how social movements act on and engage with redistributive policies, focusing specifically on taxation. Despite the foundational framework of the 1988 Constitution, which enabled the creation of inclusive policies and led to progress in reducing inequality, 35 years of redemocratization have seen persistent regressive tax collection patterns, imposing a structural barrier to policy advancement (Arretche, Marques, and Farias, 2021). During this time, various social movements have mobilized, actively contributing to the creation of social policies in health, social assistance, and human rights, thereby expanding access to rights. This study seeks to understand the role tax issues play in the demands of progressive movements and whether, and how, these issues translate into mobilization when they enter the government agenda, focusing on the period from 1988 to 2024.

Participants (Center)

NDAC/Cebrap: Beatriz Franco Pereira do Vale, Domingos Cantanhede, Franciole Bagatin, Gustavo de Moura Oliveira, Henrique Aragusuku, Itaque Barbosa, Lilian Sendretti Rodrigues Macedo, Monika Dowbor, Roberta Resende, Frederico Salm.

This project aims to analyze recent changes in the organization and actions of social movements, focusing on their repertoires of action and interaction with the state. It examines these dynamics in a context marked by efforts to institutionally rebuild policies and policy tools at the national level, along with disputes and conflicts at the subnational level. Our focus spans the national, state, and municipal levels in Brazil’s Northeast, aiming to understand the interconnections between these different levels of action, organization, and conflict, as well as the policy processes involving movement actors.

Participants (Center)

NESPP/UFPB: Carlos Eduardo de Lima Correia, Fernanda Maria Negromonte de Santana, Ingrid Raissa Guerra Lins, Lizandra Serafim.

Territorial disputes in rural areas have recently intensified in several Latin American countries, including Brazil, due to the enduring colonial legacy that shapes these historical processes. Social movements have responded by developing counter-narratives and emancipatory strategies as forms of resistance and ways to reinvent their territorial identities. Drawing on political ecology and social movement literature, this study examines how social movements respond to the advance of agrarian capitalism in Brazil, focusing especially on the environmental issue and food sovereignty. It aims to center the analysis on the environmental and food dimensions, exploring how these movements shape and engage in debates on nature and the environment to defend their territories, as well as how they advance the agenda of food sovereignty. What strategies and narratives do these movements employ? This study seeks to understand the contested meanings of territorial appropriation, emphasizing the relationships and dynamics of conflict surrounding the environmental issue.

Participants (Center)

Labrural/UFRN: Joana Moura, Marcos Aurélio Freire da SIlva Júnior, Bruna Torquato, Leandro Vieira

The project focuses on the study and dissemination of trajectories of militant engagement, unfolding into initiatives of both science communication and academic research. From the perspective of science communication, the project aims to produce and record audiovisual accounts of life histories of activists from Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on their trajectories of engagement and, eventually, disengagement. The first season was fully published on the project’s YouTube channel and focused on feminist and women’s activisms. From the perspective of academic research, the project proposes an analysis of the interviewees’ processes of militant engagement in dialogue with the literature on the topic. Transversally to the analysis of these processes of militant engagement, we will articulate three additional analytical axes related to: a) the role of memory in these processes; b) the influence of religion on militant engagement; c) and intergenerational conflicts and alliances among activists. In all cases, these themes will be investigated using the oral history method.

Participants (Center)

GPACE/UFRGS: Matheus Mazzilli Pereira, Marcelo Kunrath Silva, Elizabteh Azevedo, Amanda Mesquita Goldani, Clara Willadino Verardi, Fernanda Daitc de Freitas Camargo, Lívia Santos de Lima, Luan Homem Belomo, Giovanna Zocca, Thales Braz Bueno Borges

The study aims to create and analyze a database of protest events in the Amazon, documented during the pandemic period from 2022 to 2025, using the region’s most widely circulated news sources. This approach allows us to identify and compare demonstrations by various social movements, whether related to labor or other identities and goals (such as gender, sexuality, and ethnic-racial issues). The study seeks to develop typologies and explore the unique regional characteristics of these groups, including social composition, agendas, and types of action, while also identifying patterns, trends, and structural connections among the conflicts. Understanding the characteristics of protest events in the region, along with their social bases and agendas, provides a foundation for proposing, formulating, and evaluating public policies that can effectively address the demands of these social groups.

Participants (Center)

UFAM: Flávia Sayuri Bentes Iwanaga

The number of youth-led political organizations advocating for the rights of women, Black individuals, and the LGBTQIA+ community has been growing, along with scholarly debate on these organizations, both independently and through an intersectional approach. This research begins by asking: what are the agendas of the main Brazilian social movements led by young people advocating for feminisms, anti-racisms, and LGBTQIA+ rights, and what commonalities can be found in their trajectories? Our initial hypothesis is that the current demands reflect a pursuit of rights for groups considered more vulnerable to social oppression. Analyzing the evolution of these demands helps to understand how perceptions of social inequalities have evolved, emphasizing their diverse and intersectional nature rather than being confined to a homogenized view tied to social class. To understand what drives changes in perceptions of social inequalities, we revisit key social and governmental milestones that expanded access to central institutions in Brazilian society for women, Black individuals, and LGBTQIA+ people. This increased presence fostered interactions between these groups and other actors and helped spread the understanding that social inequalities are interconnected with these divisions. To systematize the agendas of the three main Brazilian social movements in these areas – feminisms, anti-racisms, and LGBTQIA+ rights – we will analyze documents produced by the movements and conduct qualitative interviews with their key leaders. The results will be shared through scientific articles, a book, a booklet, and a video primarily aimed at young people, contributing to a greater understanding of the field among scholars and the general public.

Participants (Center)

UFPI: Olivia Cristina Perez, Rogério de Oliveira Araújo, Caroline Alves dos Santos, Libni Milhomem Sousa, Kellen Carvalho de Sousa Brito.