Diogo Arruda Carneiro da Cunha

I hold a PhD in History from the University of Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and completed a post-doctorate in Political Science at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE/Brazil). Currently, I am a Professor of Political Theory and History of Brazilian Political Thought in the Department of Political Science at UFPE. Prior to this, I taught History of Lusophone Civilizations at Charles-de-Gaulle University Lille 3 (2012-2013) and History of Latin America in the 19th century at SciencesPo (Campus Poitiers, 2013) in France.

My recent research focuses on the history of intellectuals, specifically those associated with right-wing and far-right ideologies, and their interactions with power structures. In my book Les intellectuels conservateurs entre culture et politique: l'Académie Brésilienne des Lettres pendant la dictature militaire (1964-1979) (Lambert-Lucas, 2017), I examined the role of the ABL (Brazilian Academy of Letters), a traditionally apolitical institution, in legitimising the military dictatorship in Brazil. Additionally, I have explored the political and intellectual trajectory of Miguel Reale, a prominent conservative jurist of the 20th century in Brazil.

Currently, my research delves into the relationships between Brazilian and French right-wing intellectuals during the Algerian War and the Cuban Revolution. I examine the formation of social networks and the exchange of concepts and ideas across the Atlantic. I am also interested in French political theory, particularly the democratic theory espoused by Pierre Rosanvallon, whose works I have translated into Portuguese.

In collaboration with Christian Lynch (Iesp-Uerj), I am co-editing the book História do Pensamento Político Brasileiro (History of Brazilian Political Thought) that will be published by Editora da Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Additionally, I lead the international project “Alternative modernities, populisms and illiberal democracies: comparisons, receptions and circulations between Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe (1890-2022)”, funded by CNPq and involving researchers worldwide. My research has been published in various academic journals, including Dados, Brazilian Political Science Review, Confluenze, Brésil(s), Estudos Iberoamericanos, Histoire@Politique, and Sociologia(s).