State and marginalisation: Brazil and the UK 1970-1990

The Brazilian civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985) and Margaret Thatcher’s government in the UK (1979-1990) overlapped for several years. Despite crucial differences, most notably that Thatcher governed within a democracy and there was no direct collaboration between the two, both pursued similar paths. The shared neoliberal ideology translated into concrete actions that severely impacted the most vulnerable groups in both societies, including low-income, queer, non-white, and disabled communities.

Neoliberalism prioritised free markets, privatisation, deregulation, and reduced state intervention through considerable cuts to welfare programs, weakened labour protections, under the promise that economic efficiency would bring welfare. Economic reforms were presented as ways to stimulate growth and attract investment; however, they frequently undermined social safety nets. Benefits and services that had helped shield vulnerable groups –such as affordable housing, public healthcare, and subsidies for essential goods– were scaled back or tied to formal employment, leaving many outside the system.

The result was a deepening of social and economic inequality. Working-class communities, particularly those in deindustrialised or rural areas, faced job losses without adequate support, while informal workers and marginalised groups were excluded from welfare benefits altogether. Privatisation of basic services raised costs, further limiting access for low-income households. By shifting responsibility from the state to the individual, neoliberal policies placed the heaviest burden on those least equipped to bear it, effectively entrenching poverty and marginalisation across large sectors of society.

In Brazil, the creation of INAMPS (1974) (Instituto Nacional de Assistência Médica da Previdência Social) tied healthcare to contributions from formal sector jobs, excluding millions of informal and rural workers. Moreover, the Institutional Act No. 5 (1968) suspended most civil rights, banning strikes and consequently weakening labour unions. Examples in the UK are the Employment Acts (1980, 1982, 1988, 1990) and the Trade Union Act (1984), which imposed ballot requirements for strikes, restricted trade union power and industrial action considerably. The privatisation of services –such as British Telecom (1984), British Gas (1986), and water and electricity utilities in the late 1980s– raised household costs for many.

Additionally, moral conservatism reinforced exclusion by promoting a narrow vision of acceptable social behaviour and identity. In Brazil, the dictatorship emphasised traditional family structures, Christian morality, and heteronormativity, while censoring cultural and political expressions that challenged these norms. Feminists, LGBT+ individuals, and alternative cultural movements were silenced or persecuted, limiting their access to public spaces, social recognition, and political participation. Similarly, Thatcher’s government in the UK promoted the nuclear family as the social ideal and framed welfare dependency as a moral failing. Policies such as Section 28 (1988), which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools, institutionalised stigma against LGBT+ people, while rhetoric around self-reliance and personal responsibility implicitly blamed single parents, the unemployed, and marginalised groups for their economic hardships, reinforcing social exclusion.

Furthermore, nationalist narratives defined who belonged to the “true” national community and treated dissent or difference as a threat. In Brazil, military nationalism under the Doctrine of National Security cast political opponents, Indigenous groups resisting land appropriation, and other marginalised communities as enemies of progress or threats to national unity, justifying repression and forced removal. In Thatcher’s Britain, a form of cultural nationalism emphasised British identity, traditional values, and loyalty to the state, which often positioned immigrant communities, ethnic minorities, and working-class urban populations as outsiders. Policies and public discourse that highlighted these groups’ supposed deviation from national norms reinforced social and economic marginalisation, limiting their access to resources and political influence.

Artists and creatives often became both witnesses to and critics of marginalisation, responding with visibilisation and protest. In Brazil, filmmakers associated with the ‘Cinema Novo’ and later the ‘Cinema da Boca do Lixo’ movements, alongside marginalised independent directors, used allegory, documentary, and social realism to expose poverty, inequality, and state violence, despite censorship and surveillance.

In Thatcher’s Britain, the rise of independent cinema and alternative art collectives reflected working-class and countercultural perspectives, critiquing the social consequences of neoliberal policies. ‘Cinema Action’ and ‘The Workshop’, were two grassroots filmmaking collectives in London, that produced socially engaged documentaries and experimental works focusing on strikes, urban decay, and community struggles.

In both Brazil and the UK, film production from the margins became a form of political resistance, directly challenging the moral conservatism, nationalism, and economic exclusions imposed by state power. By centring the experiences of those marginalised by public discourse –workers, Indigenous and Black communities, women, queer people, and the urban poor– independent filmmakers exposed the structural violence of authoritarian and neoliberal policies. These films actively created visibilisation, opening space for marginalised voices to be heard and recognised, while fostering alternative forms of belonging and collective identity.

In both Brazil and the UK, film production from the margins became a form of political resistance, directly challenging the moral conservatism, nationalism, and economic exclusions imposed by state power.

Images Credits

• Miners’ Strike Rally in London in 1984. Source: Wikimedia Commons
• Student demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1979 by Custódio Coimbra. Public Domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons
• Protest by the University College of North Wales students against Margaret Thatcher. 1971. Source: Wikimedia Commons