In the Name of Integrity? Anticorruption Discourse of Brazilian Operation Lava Jato.

This article identifies four frames of corruption in the discourse of three leaders of Operation Lava Jato, also known in English as Operation Car Wash, a large-scale Brazilian anticorruption operation (2014–2021). These frames are inequality, hidden pact, backwardness, and chronic disease. The fram...

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Published in:Latin American Research Review Vol. 60; no. 2; pp. 235 - 256
Main Authors: Luis Grangeia, Mario, Thijm, Joris Alberdingk
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press Jun2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2025
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        atl: In the Name of Integrity? Anticorruption Discourse of Brazilian Operation Lava Jato.
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        au:
          Luis Grangeia, Mario
          Thijm, Joris Alberdingk
        affil:
          Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva, Switzerland.
          University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
      su:
        Corruption
        Chronic diseases
        Prosecutors
        Political questions & judicial power
        Judicial review
      sug:
        subj:
          Corruption
          Chronic diseases
          Prosecutors
          Political questions & judicial power
          Judicial review
      keyword:
        análise de enquadramento
        ativismo judicial
        Brasil
        Brazil
        corrupção
        corruption
        frame analysis
        judicial activism
        Lava Jato
        análise de enquadramento
        ativismo judicial
        Brasil
        corrupção
        análise de enquadramento
        ativismo judicial
        Brasil
        Brazil
        corrupção
        corruption
        frame analysis
        judicial activism
        Lava Jato
        análise de enquadramento
        ativismo judicial
        Brasil
        corrupção
      ab: This article identifies four frames of corruption in the discourse of three leaders of Operation Lava Jato, also known in English as Operation Car Wash, a large-scale Brazilian anticorruption operation (2014–2021). These frames are inequality, hidden pact, backwardness, and chronic disease. The frames were identified by analyzing a wide set of press interviews, opinion articles, and books by two prosecutors and one judge whose work has revealed scandals involving the state oil company Petrobras. The operation had a major impact on politics and the economy and left a controversial legacy. We noticed a contradiction between one frame invoking judicial activism (inequality) and three frames focusing on specific techniques that appeal to a more conventional view on the judiciary’s role (hidden pact, backwardness, and chronic disease). Furthermore, even when scholars were still largely positive about the operation, the discourse showed signs of judicial activism. This analysis contributes to the debate on Lava Jato and judicial activism by focusing on discourse rather than action.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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