Cartography of disputes in the public arena of electoral corruption in Brazil

Abstract

This article explores the debate in the public arena of electoral corruption in Brazil, from a pragmatic sociology perspective, to map and unfold its main disputes. Through the approach of the Actor-Network Theory (LATOUR, 2007; 2012; 2014), we seek to grasp how the public arena of electoral corruption (re)sets over time and how this public issue is seen, interpreted, and which solutions multiple actors propose. Therefore, we provide a “ballistic” view, i.e. the nonlinear route of a public issue addressed over time (CHATEAURAYNAUD, 2011). This study is based on the methodological approach of the “cartography of disputes” (VENTURINI, 2010; 2012 and VENTURINI, RICCI, MAURI et al., 2015). In addition, we analyze the public arena in three fields: political (through newspaper articles published in Folha de São Paulo), scientific (by searching academic databases), and technical-legal (examining the most significant laws on the subject). The timeframe of the mapping was from 1988, the milestone of the Brazilian democratic opening, and goes until 2014. This allowed identifying the main actors-network, who are spokespersons for the public issue, their statements, the themes of disputes arising in the debate, and the worldviews built over time about the public issue. Thus, we illustrate the setting process (CEFAÏ, 1996) or, the translation process (LATOUR, 2012) that the public issue has gone through, which influences its definition and the ways in which it is interpreted and faced.