From the libertarian to the antifa

The arrival of modern antifa in Brazil through the pages of the newspaper Libera... Amore Mio

Abstract

Abstract: This article analyzes the formation of contemporary antifascism in Brazil, highlighting its first organized expressions in the 1990s and its connection to global transformations in antifascism after 1945. Following Mark Bray’s notion of modern antifascism, antifa is understood as a practice of direct action, horizontal organization, and cultural vigilance against the normalization of neofascist movements. In post-dictatorship Brazil, the persistence of authoritarian structures and the reorganization of currents such as neo-integralism, neonazism, and historical revisionism created a fertile environment for autonomous resistance. Within this context, urban cultural spaces, especially the anarcho-punk scene, became central sites of political experimentation. Drawing on the newspaper Libera… Amore Mio, the study examines how militants defined fascism, developed repertoires of action, and organized practices of self-defense, showing that Brazilian antifa results from local trajectories connected to transnational networks.