The law in Brazilian fascism: Miguel Reale’s integralist thought

Abstract

This article discusses the understanding that the Brazilian fascism, integralism, had about the legal phenomenon. For that, we study the understanding that the jurist Miguel Reale had about the Law in his integralist period. In the first section of this work, we develop Reale's political thought, both in an ideological perspective, and in a more concrete one about the arrangement of the Integral State, based on the works of the jurist and bibliography on the subject. At this point, we point out the corporate arrangement of the Integral State, based on political, social and economic corporatism, and the political alignment of Brazilian fascism with international fascism in the function of preserving class society. In the second section, we discuss Miguel Reale's legal thinking, also based on his works and bibliography on the subject. We point out that the jurist develops an Integral Theory of Law, where the Law would serve as an instrument for consolidating the Integral State and, consequently, its political program. Constructed in opposition to liberal law, the Law in the Integral Theory establishes the relativization of individual rights based on a political criterion, determined by the ruling elite of the Integral State.