Weaponising social rights: Soviet propaganda for Brazilian women during the Cold War (1950-1964)

Published

1 December 2023

Issue

Volume 1 – Number 12

How to cite

Giovanny Simon Machado

DOI

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to analyse how social rights appeared in Soviet propaganda for Brazil between 1950 and 1964. This is a case study that uses as its main source the Spanish-language version of the magazine Soviet Woman (La Mujer Soviética), written and published by the Soviet Women’s Committee (SWC). For this analysis, a global history approach has been used to highlight the connections between the SWC and its Brazilian counterparts, especially the leadership of the Federation of Brazilian Women (FMB). The main result was that great importance was given to social rights and the role of the state in their provision. The evidence strengthens the main argument that Soviet propaganda sought to convey a polity paradigm. The reception of this propaganda in Brazil occurred simultaneously in syncretic and orthodox ways, the former combining the Soviet narrative of social rights with idealized, romantic and even Christian views, while the latter demonstrated orthodoxy and imitation of the typical Soviet vocabulary.

KEYWORDS

Soviet Union, Propaganda, Brazil, Social rights