The identity issue in the 2020 municipal elections

a genealogy of the concept of “identitarismo” on Twitter

Abstract

The municipal elections in Brazil in 2020 were marked, among other things, by the debate on the candidates' identity representation. On social media platforms, the issue was widely discussed and it was part of the process, including the emergence of neologisms such as "identitarismo" (identitarism). This research, using a mixed method, with an automated natural language processing step and a genealogical one, aims to understand what is being called “identitarianismo” on Twitter, which phenomena the concept tries to account for and the that it has produced in the current political game. After we elaborated on the theorization between the theme of representation and identity, we discussed the political disputes around race, gender and sexuality, and the controversies about the left-aligned political parties on Twitter. We conclude that “identitarismo” is used as an adjective that classifies a supposed movement, perspective, party or political action based on issues of racial, gender and sexual minorities. However, it is evident that no movement claims to be “identitarista” (identitarian) and, in general, the term is used to disparage political strategies that are primarily based on the defense of some minorities.