Death as a productive force in Brazilian capitalism

Abstract

The article addresses death and its meaning in Brazilian social formation shedding light on the current barbaric moment intensified by a pandemic. Our argument is that death, although inherent to humanity, has a social determination, being a productive force in Brazilian colonized and dependent capitalism. We interpreted neuralgic aspects of the capitalist mode of production and the particularity of our social formation based on the Marxist tradition. As much as the means have become more sophisticated, incorporating new forms or even new individuals, the content of our contemporary deaths does not change substantially: death continues as an unfolding of social question and/or corollary of Brazilian dependent capitalism and its autocratic character based on overexploitation of the workforce and structural racism.