Current Society of Fellows scholar Daniela M. Traldi presented her latest research at the 18th Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) conference, held July 7-10 at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, Brazil. During the panel The Far-Right in Comparative and International Perspective, Traldi presented alongside Vitória Rinck (Unicamp, University of Campinas), Anthony W. Pereira (Tulane University), and Rodrigo Nabuco de Araujo (Panthéon-Sorbonne University). She spoke to her article, "Fashioning Fascism in Brazil: the Case of Carmela Patti Salgado and Integralista Women (1930s-60s)."

Established in the 1990s, BRASA is the leading professional association for scholars of Brazilian studies in the United States and around the world, with a mission to foster strong academic ties with Latin America.

Abstract

Fashioning Fascism in Brazil: the Case of Carmela Patti Salgado and Integralista Women (1930s-60s)

This article examines the trajectory of Carmela Patti Salgado, a central yet largely overlooked figure in Brazilian Integralismo, the country’s largest fascist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. It traces her transformation from the movement’s first lady and leading “green blouse” to a prominent socialite and philanthropist by the 1960s, showing how Integralista women navigated political instability and sustained the movement’s influence decades after its formal dissolution.

Carmela and her peers strategically repurposed their socio-political roles, leveraging Catholic lay organizations, elite social networks, and conservative political circles. Through gendered performances - ranging from militant mother to devout Catholic to glamorous philanthropist - they adapted Integralismo to shifting political contexts. By replacing fascist uniforms and aesthetics with refined attire, reframing rhetoric around Christian nationalism, and cultivating social prestige, these women exercised strategic agency while largely operating under the radar of public scrutiny.

Drawing on extensive archival sources, including Carmela’s diaries, correspondence, and personal papers, this study reveals how Integralista women shaped the movement’s trajectory and embedded far-right ideology within socially sanctioned domains. It demonstrates the persistence of fascist networks and strategies across decades and the deliberate influence of female actors in Brazil’s political landscape.

By tracing Carmela Salgado’s three-decade engagement, the article shows how women in the Brazilian far right actively fashioned fascism: transforming its public image, sustaining its networks, and securing its social and political relevance over time. In doing so, it contributes to scholarship on Cold War Latin America by highlighting the central role of gendered agency in maintaining and reshaping far right movements beyond the interwar period.