THE (NON-) ROLE OF CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL MORALITY IN THE NATIONAL CONGRESS

FEMALE PARLIAMENTARY POSITIONS (2006, 2010 and 2014)

Abstract

This article addresses the role of female Brazilian evangelical parliamentarians in the National Congress. We investigate the meanings of conservative morality and its publicization in the national parliament from the perspective of female parliamentarians. Based on quali/quantitative data collection methods concerning the performance of female parliamentarians, we promote a critical interpretation of the moral publicization in the legislative terms of 2006, 2010 and 2014. We will analyze the main characteristics of this moral and corporate – yet pointedly social – performance. We will add to the analysis long-standing reflections regarding the practical function of religiosity in politics. The material and analyses contained in this research help broaden the discussion about the articulations between the domains involved, namely, religion and politics, which are antagonistic in some cases and complementary in others. The female evangelical political representation and its practical impact on the legislature produced ambivalent results: on the one hand, advocacy of moral agendas (punitivism, anti-abortion movement, fight against same-sex marriage), on the other hand, advocacy or proposition of specific rights (women, traffic, environment). The role of the new actors, especially the religious-identitarian ones – in this case, the female evangelical parliamentarians – is ambiguous: it promotes some social rights but inscribes in the parliament reactionary religious morality and creates a political non-role that conceals fundamental issues for women’s rights.