Demandantes e demandados na história e na cultura política de Montes Claros - MG

Abstract

This work examines the meanings of the political demands of some social subjects of underserved neighborhoods in the city of Montes Claros-MG, forwarded to the Government through collective petitions, individual requests and transgressive actions. The focus is the identification of applicants, their strategies for claiming social rights and the contradictions of their forms of political participation. The overall objective was to understand the extent to which the claimants establish new forms of struggle for their social rights and citizenship in a context that, to some extent, still reproduces the culture of donation and reciprocity in politics between dissimilar subjects. For the analyses were used sources of local history and documents such as collectivepetitions, individual requests, printed and online newspapers, combined with oral depositions obtained directly from the claimant subjects. Specifically, the analyses emphasize the process of social and spatial segregation of some segments of impoverished classes which, because of the scarcity of political and economic resources, began to occupy areas furthest from the central region, without access to equipment of urbanization and ill-health and education services. The analyses are demonstrating how those segments found a proper way of inserting themselves in urban space, occupying vacant lots, building houses, taking care of children and guaranteeing them access to schools. It was noted that, despite the adverse socioeconomic situation experienced by impoverished population from the city of Montes Claros, the analyzed groups were not apathetic and missing in face of the serious social problems. It was found that their struggles for rights were held through meetings in halls of churches and other social spaces, by the elaboration of formal documents, by using creative and unforeseen rhetoric, by individual or collective questioning of agents fromthe public authorities, by transgressive and even violent actions, among other strategies of claiming. Through this study, it was possible to conclude that, in Montes Claros, MG, there are social subjects who fight and resist against entrenched political practices and establishes other forms of integration into local political culture.