Nara Roberta Silva is a member of the core faculty and Praxis Program head at Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, where she teaches about social movements, race, and social theory.
Lula currently appears the front-runner in Brazil’s presidential election, a fact that should be celebrated by the Left. But even if Lula wins, the damage Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing rule has inflicted on the country will be difficult to undo.
Brazil’s 1988 post-dictatorship constitution enshrined a broad range of social rights and a modest welfare state. Since taking office a year ago, Jair Bolsonaro and his band of paranoid reactionaries have dedicated themselves to attacking and undermining those rights.