Introduction

Abstract

Bolsonara and his supporters have publicly accused educators of ‘ideological indoctrination’ in teaching, for example, about the history of slavery or sexual diversity in Brazil. Any reliance on the socially progressive educational philosophy and practice of Paulo Freire, perhaps the most famous Brazilian educator, has come under draconian scrutiny. The difficulty in making sense of our global populist moment to some extent reflects the convoluted, lengthy history of categorising, debating, and studying a range of socio-cultural and political phenomena using the terms populism or populist. Populism is frequently understood and practised as an ideology that treats society as being divided into two antagonistic groups—the ‘pure people’ and the ‘corrupt elites’—and then argues that politics should express the general will of the pure people. A core feature of populism is said to be its weak institutionalisation, a function of the ‘outsider’ status of populist actors and movements.