One week before the October 7 election, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians (especially women) took to the streets to protest the rise of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. They promoted the hashtag #EleNão (Not Him) and staged demonstrations in all of Brazil’s 27 states. Still, that didn’t stop the former Army captain from earning 46 percent of valid votes and nearly snatching a first-round win. In the end, as significant as the #EleNão movement was (the biggest ever to be led by Brazilian women), it was essentially preaching to the choir.
The University of São Paulo’s Research Group on Public Policies conducted a survey during the demonstration in São Paulo. Their data showed that the people united against Mr. Bolsonaro on the street were not the most diverse bunch: being mostly white, highly-educated, higher-income, and left-leaning. This piece of information was widely used by pundits to discredit the movement, saying it was responsible for the far-right wave we observed nearly two weeks ago.
However, what the University...
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