ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the conceptual transformations that took place as soon as a particularly fierce strain of neoliberal discourse began to make its presence felt in public debate, and the ramifications this brought for the Brazilian democratic order after 1988. To this end, this chapter opens with a brief overview of particularly sensitive moments in which the discourse on corruption affected national political history. There, our focus lies on the emergence of an anti-corruption discourse in the media, along with a corresponding figure of the anti-corruption intellectual. In that way, we set out to comprehend the shifting fortunes of Brazil’s political scene through the notion of corruption, with particular emphasis on a certain type of ultra-right discourse that assumed great centrality during the period in question. We conclude by analyzing one of the central figures in this history and the preponderant role corruption has played in shaping their discourse – a figure that has been cast as a savior, a hero, or an intellectual capable of absorbing and reformulating the leading slogans of the new ultra-right: the political jurist. For this particular case, we center our analysis on Operation Car Wash task force leader Deltan Dallagnol’s recent discourse.
