Crafting Utopias through Environmental Denial: The Far-Right Populism of Bolsonaro and Milei
- Diego S. Crescentino
Abstract
Existing studies of radical right-wing populism have primarily analysed populist leaders like Milei and Bolsonaro through their retrotopian appeals to past authoritarianism, often overlooking their forward-looking utopian projections. This gap in the literature obscures how their rejection of the status quo frames the climate crisis as a manufactured dystopia — one they counter by dismissing its very existence. Drawing on insights from utopian studies, this research seeks to fill this gap by providing tools for deconstructing the covert utopias envisioned by these leaders. Specifically, it examines how Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) and Javier Milei (2024-present) craft their utopian imaginaries and the role that environmental denial plays within them.
Keywords
Utopias, Far-right, Environmental Denialism, Brazil, Argentina
Author Biography
Diego S. Crescentino
Diego Crescentino is an Associate Professor at Deusto University with a Ph.D. in History of International Relations, a Master's degree in International Relations and African Studies, and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Public Administration. His main research interests cover four areas: international relations theory, foreign policy analysis, development studies and utopian studies. His geographical focus is the Global South, with particular emphasis on Brazil and Argentina. He is a member of the HISTOPIA (CSIC) and GERI (UAM) research groups and an Editorial Assistant of the Revista de Estudios Utópicos (REUTOPIA-CSIC).