Corporate anti-populism: insights from Instituto Millenium
Abstract
Recent scholarship has shifted from analysing populist discourses to examining discourses about populism, what we term populism discourse studies, highlighting how the signifier “populism” is mobilised in struggles over political power. Focusing on Instituto Millenium, a business aligned think tank in Brazil, this article examines corporate anti-populism as a dimension of corporate political activity. It shows how corporate actors contributed to the mainstreaming of right-wing populism by framing Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign as an economic solution to an alleged ‘left-populist threat’ associated with Lula and the Workers’ Party. The study expands populism research by foregrounding business actors’ role in shaping populism discourses.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Populism
Right-Wing Movements
Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism
International Relations and Autism
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Political Power
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 342–365
- Publication date
- 3 April 2026
- Language
- EN