The Strategic Production of Hatred. Anti-immigration Discourses and Xenophobic Practices in Brazil

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an ethnographic description of the social impactthat anti-migrant hate speech has in the Brazilian city of Foz de Iguazú in theParaná Tri-Border Area (TBA), on the frontiers between Brazil, Paraguay, andArgentina (at the confluence of the Paraná and Iguazú rivers). We will analyzeBrazil's current political context, focusing particularly on the present impact ofmilitary imaginaries that began to spread in this border zone in the seventies.Our ethnographic methodology included 60 individual interviews and a focusgroup with 11 participants (international students, professors, and technicalstaff from the Universidad Federal de la Integración Latinoamericana [FederalUniversity of Latin American Integration], all from a qualitative perspective.The results show that xenophobia has become official discourse in Brazil,articulated with statements that advocate intolerance towards minorities andvulnerable sectors. This broad phenomenon has specific implications in Foz deIguazú because of the city's border and military configurations. Our study alsoshows that xenophobic discourse and practices form part of racist imaginariesthat have a greater impact on migrant women.