‘This is just a little flu’: analysing medical populist discourses on the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Erik Persson; Ewan Ferlie; Juan Baeza

doi:10.1177/09520767221141121

‘This is just a little flu’: analysing medical populist discourses on the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Erik Persson^*, Ewan Ferlie, Juan Baeza

^*Corresponding author for this work

Public Services Management & Org

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

153 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of medical populism to examine how Brazil has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognising the centrality of discourses in framing health policy, we employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify and analyse (1) what were the main discursive frames that characterised medical populism in Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis? and (2) how were these frames constructed, legitimated and reproduced in discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation? Our study is an effort to inform the literature about medical populism and, more broadly, public health policymaking, administration and governance of health crises. Specifically, we seek to uncover the underlying discursive features of medical populism and expose how they frame public health policy. Our case study shows ample evidence that the main discursive frames underpinning medical populism during the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil reflected the most widely agreed attributes of populism as a strategic political discourse, notably an antagonistic depiction of the health problem, overpoliticisation and moral interpretation of political actors. However, our findings challenge some theoretical assumptions of extant conceptualisations of medical populism, thus providing greater insights into the concept of medical populism by demonstrating how this type of political discourse may incorporate different discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation into its populist repertoire. This can help us anticipate patterns of action and narratives for preparing responses to future public health emergencies in an era of increasing post-truth politics, as populist discourses seem likely to influence public policy and governance for some time.

Original language	English
Journal	PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
Early online date	30 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767221141121
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Nov 2022

Keywords

Covid-19
critical discourse analysis
health policymaking
medical populism
pandemic
public policy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/09520767221141121Licence: CC BY

This is just a little flu_PERSSON_Publishedonline30Nov2022_GOLD VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 1.06 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{f71fecc3bd0e49e6a53b1c8fba8e0f2b,

title = "{\textquoteleft}This is just a little flu{\textquoteright}: analysing medical populist discourses on the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil",

abstract = "This paper explores the concept of medical populism to examine how Brazil has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognising the centrality of discourses in framing health policy, we employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify and analyse (1) what were the main discursive frames that characterised medical populism in Brazil{\textquoteright}s Covid-19 crisis? and (2) how were these frames constructed, legitimated and reproduced in discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation? Our study is an effort to inform the literature about medical populism and, more broadly, public health policymaking, administration and governance of health crises. Specifically, we seek to uncover the underlying discursive features of medical populism and expose how they frame public health policy. Our case study shows ample evidence that the main discursive frames underpinning medical populism during the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil reflected the most widely agreed attributes of populism as a strategic political discourse, notably an antagonistic depiction of the health problem, overpoliticisation and moral interpretation of political actors. However, our findings challenge some theoretical assumptions of extant conceptualisations of medical populism, thus providing greater insights into the concept of medical populism by demonstrating how this type of political discourse may incorporate different discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation into its populist repertoire. This can help us anticipate patterns of action and narratives for preparing responses to future public health emergencies in an era of increasing post-truth politics, as populist discourses seem likely to influence public policy and governance for some time.",

keywords = "Covid-19, critical discourse analysis, health policymaking, medical populism, pandemic, public policy",

author = "Erik Persson and Ewan Ferlie and Juan Baeza",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2022.",

year = "2022",

month = nov,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1177/09520767221141121",

language = "English",

journal = "PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION",

issn = "0952-0767",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘This is just a little flu’

T2 - analysing medical populist discourses on the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

AU - Persson, Erik

AU - Ferlie, Ewan

AU - Baeza, Juan

PY - 2022/11/30

Y1 - 2022/11/30

N2 - This paper explores the concept of medical populism to examine how Brazil has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognising the centrality of discourses in framing health policy, we employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify and analyse (1) what were the main discursive frames that characterised medical populism in Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis? and (2) how were these frames constructed, legitimated and reproduced in discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation? Our study is an effort to inform the literature about medical populism and, more broadly, public health policymaking, administration and governance of health crises. Specifically, we seek to uncover the underlying discursive features of medical populism and expose how they frame public health policy. Our case study shows ample evidence that the main discursive frames underpinning medical populism during the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil reflected the most widely agreed attributes of populism as a strategic political discourse, notably an antagonistic depiction of the health problem, overpoliticisation and moral interpretation of political actors. However, our findings challenge some theoretical assumptions of extant conceptualisations of medical populism, thus providing greater insights into the concept of medical populism by demonstrating how this type of political discourse may incorporate different discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation into its populist repertoire. This can help us anticipate patterns of action and narratives for preparing responses to future public health emergencies in an era of increasing post-truth politics, as populist discourses seem likely to influence public policy and governance for some time.

AB - This paper explores the concept of medical populism to examine how Brazil has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognising the centrality of discourses in framing health policy, we employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify and analyse (1) what were the main discursive frames that characterised medical populism in Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis? and (2) how were these frames constructed, legitimated and reproduced in discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation? Our study is an effort to inform the literature about medical populism and, more broadly, public health policymaking, administration and governance of health crises. Specifically, we seek to uncover the underlying discursive features of medical populism and expose how they frame public health policy. Our case study shows ample evidence that the main discursive frames underpinning medical populism during the Covid-19 crisis in Brazil reflected the most widely agreed attributes of populism as a strategic political discourse, notably an antagonistic depiction of the health problem, overpoliticisation and moral interpretation of political actors. However, our findings challenge some theoretical assumptions of extant conceptualisations of medical populism, thus providing greater insights into the concept of medical populism by demonstrating how this type of political discourse may incorporate different discursive meanings, structures and schemes of argumentation into its populist repertoire. This can help us anticipate patterns of action and narratives for preparing responses to future public health emergencies in an era of increasing post-truth politics, as populist discourses seem likely to influence public policy and governance for some time.

KW - Covid-19

KW - critical discourse analysis

KW - health policymaking

KW - medical populism

KW - pandemic

KW - public policy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143587891&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/09520767221141121

DO - 10.1177/09520767221141121

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85143587891

SN - 0952-0767

JO - PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION

JF - PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION

ER -

‘This is just a little flu’: analysing medical populist discourses on the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this