Description
This article argues that the wave of protests that happened in Brazil between 2013 and 2016 were the driving force of a securitization process from below, in which corruption was the securitized “object”. Corruption is an abstract concept with emotional and universal connotations. It is notoriously puzzling and elusive, and if it is not contextually applied, it can have a diverse range of meanings. Nevertheless, the “fight against corruption” was still the central goal of many protests around the country at that time. Thus, I investigate what role protests have in the securitization of abstract concepts for securitizations initiated by the grassroots of society. Previous works have addressed the securitization of universals, especially in the context of macrosecuritizations, however they have failed to address the affects surrounding such abstract concepts. Here then, I approach the topic through the framework of visual securitization, assuming that images not only speak security but also evoke emotions. I collected the photographs that were taken during the protests and printed by the newspaper with the most circulability in Brazil, and via discourse analysis and iconology, I aim at interpreting the symbolic forms that produce the visual meanings of affect. With this paper, I expect to contribute to the theorizations of securitization from below, highlighting that protests – as practices of grassroots agency – are embedded in affective connotations that appeal to abstract/universal threats or referent objects.
