Banca de DEFESA: VANESSA PATRICIA MACHADO SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : VANESSA PATRICIA MACHADO SILVA
DATE: 26/03/2026
TIME: 09:30
LOCAL: Sociologia
TITLE:

Black Women in Power: Intersectionality, Political Representation, and Career Trajectories in the National Congress

KEY WORDS:

Black women; Political representation; Intersectionality; National Congress; Brazilian democracy; Political violence; Gender and race; Political trajectories;

PAGES: 240
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Sociologia
SUMMARY:

This thesis investigates the presence, trajectories, and strategies of Black women in the Brazilian National Congress from redemocratization to 2025. Drawing on an intersectional perspective that articulates race, gender, and class, the study analyzes their pathways to elected office, the obstacles they face, and the forms of resistance and political agency constructed by these parliamentarians within a space historically dominated by white, male elites. The research contributes to rethinking the limits and potentialities of Brazilian democracy by demonstrating that the presence of these women challenges the exclusionary structures of the political system and introduces into the legislative agenda perspectives previously marginalized, such as debates on gender and race-based political violence. The work is structured around three complementary methodological axes. The first consists of a historical reconstruction of the political presence of Black women throughout the 20th century, with emphasis on the trajectory of Benedita da Silva as a transitional figure for contemporary institutional politics. The second axis is the mapping of the 62 Black parliamentarians, self-declared and hetero-identified, who held office between 1991 and 2025, with an analysis of their biographical profiles, education, and political background. The third axis comprises semi-structured interviews with seven parliamentarians: Federal Deputies Benedita da Silva (PT/RJ), Carol Dartora (PT/PR), Dandara Tonantzin (PT/MG), Erika Hilton (PSOL/SP), Tia Eron (PRB/BA), and Silvia Cristina (PP/RO), as well as Senator Eliziane Gama (PSD/MA). The interviews deepen the understanding of their pathways to office, their experiences, obstacles, and the strategies developed during their terms. The mapping results indicate that Black women parliamentarians follow non-traditional routes to access, anchored in social movements, community, religious, and union experiences, with education as a central axis of social mobility and political engagement. Recurring patterns are identified in their trajectories: popular-class origins, educational backgrounds predominantly in Law, Education (Pedagogy), and Journalism, and prior experience in local legislatures. Most serve only a single term, revealing the barriers to consolidating lasting political careers. The interview data, in turn, evidence the daily confrontation of gender and race-based political violence, as well as the formulation of resistance strategies through collective alliances, work in parliamentary fronts, and the mobilization of territorial networks. Among the generations analyzed, the emergence of a new group of leaders stands out, who arrive in Parliament with an intersectional discourse and explicit projects for institutional transformation. The analysis demonstrates that, although still a minority, the presence of Black women in the Federal Legislature articulates the descriptive and substantive dimensions of political representation, broadening the thematic horizon of the legislative agenda and making it more sensitive to the realities of historically marginalized populations. It is concluded that the presence and work of these parliamentarians are fundamental for democratic vitality, insofar as they challenge race and gender hierarchies entrenched in the Federal Parliament and advocate for political representation that, in fact, incorporates the plurality of voices, experiences, and knowledges of Brazilian society. The thesis contributes to the fields of Political Sociology and gender and race studies by offering a pioneering systematization of the presence of Black women in the Federal Parliament and by proposing an intersectional and situated reading of political representation.

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - FLAVIA MATEUS RIOS - USP
Presidente - 1276976 - JOAZE BERNARDINO COSTA
Externa ao Programa - 1065451 - LAYLA DANIELE PEDREIRA DE CARVALHO - nullExterna à Instituição - MÁRCIA REGINA DE LIMA SILVA - USP
Interna - 2079994 - TANIA MARA CAMPOS DE ALMEIDA