From football nation to COVID 19-land : cultural pedagogies and political protests during syndemic times in Brazil

Brazil was one of the countries that presented the worst response to the COVID-19 syndemic crisis. Jair Bolsonaro, then Brazil's President, disdained the risk of infection, and called it a 'little flu'. Nevertheless, at the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 infection, several groups of self-proclaimed 'anti-fascist football supporters' marched in the country's main cities to protest the federal government's (lack of) response to the health crisis. During the protests, they marched side by side with a series of new social movements that emerged in Brazil during the syndemic, such as anti-fascists delivery workers that are employed by the Gig Economy. This paper addresses key questions on cultural pedagogies and everyday political practices in the Brazilian sports realm during the COVID-19 syndemic. Applying Giroux's concept of cultural pedagogies as well as Edward Thompson analysis of class and popular resistance movements the chapter creates a diffraction that shows how football, and the COVID-19 crisis were intertwined in Brazil.