This article proposes the concept of identity authoritarianism to describe a specific form of contemporary political conflict. It argues that, as collective institutions of representation and belonging, such as political parties, trade unions, and associations, lose their capacity to mediate interests and identities, identity tends to occupy by itself the space previously divided between institutional mediation and personal belonging, becoming a direct criterion of political legitimacy. This shift has a specific consequence: because identity does not allow for negotiation in the same way as an interest, its politicization tends to turn disagreements into existential threats. The article distinguishes this dynamic from moralized political conflict in general through a precise feature: identity authoritarianism occurs when the adversary ceases to be perceived as a legitimate participant in the political contest and comes to be understood as an obstacle to the realization of one's own identity, making the restriction of their presence and participation in public debate not an exception, but a coherent consequence of this reasoning, occurring on both the right and the left. This is a theoretical formulation, developed through the articulation of traditions in social theory and political science, which seeks to offer an analytical framework for phenomena currently described, in overly generic terms, as polarization or populism.
This article examines historical and contemporary shifts in the role of photography within Ethnography, focusing on the transition from its use as a classificatory and evidentiary tool to approaches that understand it as a situated, relational, and epistemologically active practice. Drawing on critical debates in visual anthropology, collaborative methodologies, and the transformations associated with the digital circulation of images, the article foregrounds photography as a gesture, a mode of listening, and a form of co-authorship in fieldwork. By situating these transformations within the broader framework of multimodal ethnography, the article argues that photography should not be regarded as an auxiliary resource, but as a language that actively participates in the construction of the field and in the production of anthropological knowledge. In doing so, it contributes to ongoing discussions on the epistemological reconfigurations of contemporary ethnography and on plural ways of narrating and interpreting ethnographic experience. This article takes the form of a reflexive theoretical essay grounded in a critical review of the literature in the field of visual anthropology.
A presente pesquisa trata-se do ritual de benzeção como prática popular de cura, a partir das experiências de vida de três benzedeiras do povoado Piaçava, localizado no município de Nazaré, no extremo Norte do Tocantins. Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar as práticas de benzimento a partir das experiências de mulheres benzedeiras do Povoado Piaçava e como elas se mantêm atualmente. Busca-se identificar a prática do benzimento como ritual de cura, destacando através das narrativas orais das benzedeiras como ocorre os benzimentos no cotidiano do povoado e de que forma esses saberes são transmitidos para as futuras gerações. Os caminhos metodológicos são guiados pela pesquisa qualitativa, com uso da história oral de vida, observação participante e entrevistas exploratórias. Por meio disso, evidencia-se nesse estudo a importância do ritual de cura e dos saberes exercidos pelas benzedeiras na perpetuação de uma tradição.
This article aims to problematize the role of Sociology in the field of Public Policy, particularly in understanding the processes through which social problems are constructed, framed, and incorporated into government agendas. Methodologically, it is based on a review and theoretical articulation of scholars from the fields of Public Policy, Political Sociology, and the Sociology of Race Relations, drawing on concepts such as framing, mainstreaming, racism, and power relations. It argues that public policies do not result exclusively from technical or bureaucratic processes, but are shaped by disputes among actors, institutions, interests, values, and different forms of knowledge. Based on this discussion, the article demonstrates that the inclusion of certain issues on government agendas does not guarantee their effective framing as public problems. It therefore advocates for a sociological contribution capable of problematizing categories, analyzing power relations, and understanding how problems are constructed and translated into state interventions.
This article argues that Jacques Derrida’s notion of spectrality provides a critical key for re-inscribing the Hegelian legacy of universal history from colonial and postcolonial experiences. Methodologically, it adopts a theoretical-conceptual analysis of deconstructive and dialectical inspiration, articulating an immanent reading of philosophical texts with a critical confrontation between postcolonial theory (Buck-Morss, Gilroy) and contemporary hauntology (Fisher). It contends that, although Buck-Morss and Gilroy reveal the persistence of colonial specters, their approaches do not encompass the future-oriented dimension of spectrality. Fisherian hauntology, in turn, by privileging the canceled futures of the Global North, tends to silence the specters produced by coloniality. The article therefore proposes an expanded concept of the specter, capable of articulating the colonial past and the aborted futures of emancipation, in defense of a politics of spectral justice.
