Abstract
ABSTRACT In 2019, the Brazilian Government secured support to pass radical reforms to the state pension system. Drawing on concepts from historical materialist policy analysis and critical discourse analysis, this paper contributes to understanding how the Bolsonaro Government utilized narratives of inter- and intra-class and generational (in)equity to problematize constitutional guarantees of social and economic rights and warrant fiscal austerity and curtailment of social protections. We contend that the 2019 pension reform can be understood as a complementary political project to the preceding Temer Government’s labor market reforms and successful passing of legislation to place a ceiling on Federal expenditure to constrain pro-welfare politics. Our analysis adds to understanding of how policy discourse legitimated a transformation in Brazilian social policy commensurate with advancing a conservative austere-liberal market hegemony project.
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