Centering Latin America: gender politics, attacks on higher education, and lessons of resistance from Brazil

Jul 6, 2026

Centers resistance to far-right gender politics in Brazilian higher education, highlighting the work and legacy of Black feminist politician Marielle Franco. Connects attacks on universities in the United States with the international spread of conservative movements opposing “gender ideology” under claims of protecting children. Argues these attacks are transnational and that Latin America is central to both conservative articulation and organized resistance. Calls communication educators to de-westernize curricula by foregrounding Latin American scholarship and activism, strengthening students’ ability to critique globally oriented far-right reactions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

ABSTRACT

Global movement against "gender ideology" and higher education

Transnational framing and attacks on universities

Latin America’s centrality in articulation and resistance

Pedagogical implications for communication education

# Centering Latin America:gender politics,attacks on highereducation,and lessons of resistance from Brazil Raiana de Carvalho aand Raquel Moreira ⑩b Department of Communication Studies,Furman University,Greenville,SC,U.5.A;communication StudiesDepartment,Southwestern Universty,Georgetown,TX,U.S.A. ARTICLE HISTORYReceived 25 March 2025Accepted 30 March 2025 ## ABSTRACT This essay foregrounds examples of resistance to far-right politicsin Brazilian higher education,particularly through the work andlegacy of fallen Black feminist politician Marielle Franco.We makecontextual connections between the current attacks on highereducation in the United States and the growing globalarticulation of conservative movements who claim to oppose"gender ideology."By centering Latin America,and Brazil inparticular,we hope to disrupt the hegemonic narrative thatforefronts the United States as the primary spreader of theseconservative ideologies.Instead,we offer evidence that these far-right attacks are transnational in natureand that Latin America isat the center of both the articulation of such conservative ideasas welas of the organized resistance to such ideologies.Ultmately,we urge communication educators to challenge ourdiscipline's contextual insularity by underscoring the Braziliancase in discussions of both antifeminist attacks on highereducation as well as what resistance can look like under suchhostile circumstances. KEYWORDS gender ideology;antifeminism;MarielleFranco;higher education;resistance "Burn the witch!"shouted a protester as an effigy of U.Sphilosopher Judith Butler wasset ablaze outside the venue they were scheduled to speak at in São Paulo,Brazil(Veja,2017).Butler had become the physical representation of what far-right groups globallyhave termed "gender ideology,"a misnomer that is used to oppose equity and diversityin matters of gender and sexuality globally under the guise of protecting children(Bennett,2024;Biroli,2018a;Prado,2024).Higher education institutions have been tar-geted worldwide for being the creators and promoters of this “gender ideology”thatallegedly threatens conservative values and traditional family formations(Biroli,2018a;Biroli &Caminotti,2020;Sinhoretto,2022).Although the transnational configurationsof these movements are seen in several examples from recent years,and emblematicallyin the 2017 bizarre attacks on Judith Butler described above,Brazil has become a focalpoint for the development and dissemination of “gender ideology,”with right-wingerslabeling Brazilian universities as enemies of families and children(Moreno et al.,2024). Butler's incident in 2017 and its continuing reverberations illustrate the need to con-sider the reactionary expressions against progressive gender and sexuality politics inhigher education as a global phenomenon.Specifically,we argue that Latin America iscentral to both the transnational articulations of these far-right attacks and the fightagainst them.We thus suggest that:(1)we should promote global understandings offar-right attacks to gender and sexuality in higher education—and avenues for resist-ance—in our Communication and Media Studies curricula;(2)the promotion ofglobal understandings of the far-right—and resistance to it—can center Latin Americanexperiences as a way to dewesternize teaching practices in our field;(3)this centering onLatin America should move beyond understanding such processes as a simple trickledown of Global North ideas into the Global South.Instead,we consider how GlobalSouth regions like Latin America have emboldened and shaped the conservative perse-cution of critical discussions of gender and sexuality in educational spaces worldwide,as well as lessons on how to resist such movements.We thus urge Communication edu-cators to engage in closer examinations of right-wing politics stemming from LatinAmerica,along with how scholars and activists fight back,through a pedagogy thatrejects constructions of Latin America as an “

FAQs

What central example of resistance does the essay foreground in Brazilian higher education?

The essay highlights resistance through the work and legacy of fallen Black feminist politician Marielle Franco, using her story as an educational entry point for discussing far-right attacks and resistance.

How does the essay connect U.S. developments to Brazilian attacks on higher education?

It argues that contemporary attacks on higher education in the United States are contextually connected to the global articulation of conservative movements that oppose “gender ideology.”

Why does the essay emphasize centering Latin America rather than treating it as a passive recipient of Global North ideas?

It challenges a simple “trickle-down” narrative by showing how Global South regions like Latin America help embolden and shape conservative persecution of gender and sexuality discussions in educational spaces, while also offering lessons of resistance.

Jul 6, 2026

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