COVID-19 and Necropolitics: The Absence of Race and Gender Intersectional Analysis in Pandemic Data in Brazil

This chapter examines the relationship between the absence of race and gender data in communication of COVID-19 and necropolitics promoted by the Brazilian government. The objective of this chapter is (1) to discuss the incorporation of the race/color and gender questions in the epidemiological bulletins of Brazil’s 26 states along with the Federal District, and the Federal Government and (2) to analyze the communication of the Federal Government to confront the coronavirus. The research reveals that despite the guidelines of the National Policy for Integral Health of the Black Population to include the collection of racial and gender data, the Brazilian government omitted these data. Only 37% of states included color/race in their daily bulletins and 15% of them disaggregated data by gender and race.