NEOCONSERVATISM IN BRAZIL: URBAN VIOLENCE, RACISM, AND THE CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL WORK

Abstract

This article proposes a critical analysis of contemporary expressions of urban violence, structural racism, and the rise of neoconservatism in Brazil, linking these phenomena to the role of Social Work and the defense of human rights. The reflection begins with the symbolic image of the bodies lined up in Penha Square, Rio de Janeiro, after a police operation, understood as a representation of necropolitics and the trivialization of life. The methodology adopted is qualitative, of a theoretical-critical nature, grounded in the Marxist tradition and the historical-critical approach of Social Work. The study engages with authors such as Achille Mbembe, Silvio Almeida, Ricardo Antunes, Marilda Iamamoto, Elaine Behring, Jason Stanley, and Umberto Eco. The results show that the structural crisis of capital and the rise of conservatism produce the precarization of work, the dismantling of public policies, and the strengthening of authoritarian practices. It is concluded that Social Work is called upon to reaffirm its ethical-political project, resisting the normalization of violence and defending life, social justice, and human rights as non-negotiable values.