Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ANDRÉ DE SOUZA SOARES

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ANDRÉ DE SOUZA SOARES
DATE: 28/03/2026
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Virtual - Meet
TITLE:

“WHERE IS THAT LITTLE CHURCH NOW?” RESONANCES AND ADHERENCES OF THE EXTREME RIGHT-WING POLITICAL CULTURE IN EVANGELICAL ASSEMBLY CYBERSPACES IN THE PRESENT TIME

KEY WORDS:

Assembly of God, Conservatism, Right-Wing Political Culture, Cyberspace, Bolsonarism.

PAGES: 269
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: História
SUMMARY:

The objective of this study is to analyze the process of construction of a far-right political culture within the Evangelical Church of the Assembly of God (AG), especially those linked to the GCAGB (General Convention of the Assemblies of God in Brazil), its largest branch. From a militant conservatism that, among other aspects, declared support for the military dictatorship (1964-1985) and later, the process of adherence of some of its cadres to the global wave of the far right, from the transition from the second to the third decade of the 21st century. In this survey, I used sources from the official literature of the AD, especially the newspaper Mensageiro da Paz and the magazine Lições Bíblicas”, which have markers of the editorial position, which at the present time, gave resonance to the same themes, agendas and political interests of the Brazilian right-wing extremist. In this sense, I point out that some trends and concerns of the Assembly's communicative culture dialogued with common predilections of the right-wing extremist mainstream between 2016 and 2022. I demonstrate signs of an affinity-based adherence that contributed to the construction of a reactionary political culture ideologically identified with the rise of Jair Messias Bolsonaro. With studies based on the theoretical dimensions of the political and religious fields of Pierre Bourdieu (1981, 2004), spatial practices of Michel de Certeau (1994), also referenced in the research on the relationship between Protestantism and politics by Paul Freston (1993), I discuss how the maintenance of the sectarian characteristics institutionalized by the AD were co-opted by leaders to tension and manufacture an identification with the conservatism of the Brazilian right-wing extremism. I present the invention of a Bolsonarist “Sebastianism”, a cyberactivism practiced by the Assembly of God pastor Elinaldo Renovato de Lima, who responded to two lawsuits for having used cyberspace to disseminate false facts (fake news) in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and during the 2022 electoral campaign. These cases had a wide repercussion among Assembly of God members throughout the country, given the relevance of the leader in this religious segment. The research opens up for academic debate, among other concerns: the development of a preferential political culture encouraged by religious leaders and their interference in democratic processes; the partisan use of the AG church and how this can harm the proper appropriation of the right to religious freedom; and; how this abuse of power can threaten the exercise of citizenship.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - DILTON CÂNDIDO MAYNARD - UFS
Interno - 6350775 - HENRIQUE ALONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE RODRIGUES PEREIRA
Presidente - 2277360 - MAGNO FRANCISCO DE JESUS SANTOS
Interno - 1280374 - RENATO AMADO PEIXOTO