THE FABRICS OF POWER IN BRAZILIAN SOCIETY: A STUDY OF THE DISCOURSES THAT PRODUCE MEANINGS, SUBJECTIVITIES AND HEGEMONIES

Abstract

This article, entitled “The Fabrics of Power in Brazilian Society: A Study of Discourses that Produce Meanings, Subjectivities, and Hegemonies,” aims to problematize the ways in which power is inscribed in language practices, demonstrating how discursive formations operate in the production of meanings, legitimize inequalities, naturalize exclusions, and establish regimes of truth in the Brazilian public sphere. We start from the hypothesis that everyday discourses, while reflecting power structures, also produce and reproduce them, sustaining subjectivities and hegemonies that shape the social imaginary. Our methodology is based on French-style Discourse Analysis, of a qualitative and interpretive nature, grounded in the work of Michel Foucault, Michel Pêcheux, and contemporary authors. The corpus was constituted from the selection of discursive materials, newspaper and digital news reports, institutional campaigns, political statements, and social media publications from official bodies, that address public security, health policies, and social movements in Brazil between 2011 and 2025. The analysis was developed in three stages: identification of discursive formations, description of subject positions, and interpretation of the effects of meaning, seeking to understand how power circulates, is naturalized, and maintained in the discourses that permeate social life.