Authoritarianism as a transition

Oliveira Vianna in dialogue with European fascism and contemporary authoritarianisms

Abstract

This article examines the concept of instrumental authoritarianism in Francisco José de Oliveira Vianna, analyzing his proposal of a pedagogical State that would justify authoritarian tutelage as a means of democratic formation. The research adopts a historical-hermeneutical method, articulating Vianna’s thought with European authoritarian traditions and contemporary technocratic authoritarianisms. The theoretical dialogue with Weber, Arendt, Schmitt, Habermas, Foucault, and Agamben allows questioning the ethical and political legitimacy of an authoritarianism that presents itself as transitory. It is concluded that, in the absence of clear normative foundations, every form of tutelage tends to permanence, transforming the promise of emancipation into technical rationality and governmentality. The study thus shows that Vianna’s thought expresses a recurrent contradiction of modernity: the effort to build freedom under the form of authority.