The Rise of the Contentious Right: Digitally Intermediated Linkage Strategies in Argentina and Brazil. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gold, Tomás; Peña, Alejandro M.
• Editors: Mayka, Lindsay; Smith, Amy Erica
• Is Part Of: Latin American politics and society. Volume 63:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 118
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: political parties -- contentious politics -- party linkages -- digital activism -- conservatism; Latin America -- Periodicals; Amérique latine -- Périodiques; Sociale ontwikkeling; Politieke ontwikkeling; 980
• DOI: 10.1017/lap.2021.23
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1531-426X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes novel patterns of interaction between right-wing parties and protest movements during major contentious cycles in Argentina (2012–13) and Brazil (2013–16), which preceded the advent of the Cambiemos coalition in the former and the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in the latter. Drawing on a dual process-tracing strategy and a wide range of data sources, this study shows that these interactions are central to understanding why and how right-wing parties leverage novel repertoires and resources from digital activists during contemporary protest cycles, a dynamic conceptualized as a new party linkage strategy through digital intermediation. The study traces its three-phase development in both countries, revealing how differences in institutional contexts and the strength of activist groups contributed to divergent trajectories of partisan opposition toward the end of the cycles, regarding both the subsequent reconfiguration of the right and the entry of digital activists into institutional arenas.