Tecendo cidadanias: os percursos da luta por direitos no território do Capão Redondo

Abstract

Citizenship is constructed on the basis of the different socioeconomic conditions of each territory. Rather than being a fixed or universal concept, it has acquired distinct meanings throughout the history of societies, which have developed parameters to guarantee the rights commonly established and recognized as characteristic of citizens, taking as reference the central countries of capitalism. In Brazil, this process was no different. Although inspired by conventions from the Global North, citizenship developed in a distinct manner below the Equator and was shaped by the economic and social aspects that constituted the country—namely colonialism, dependent capitalism, and a fragile democratic construction. The historical trajectory of the establishment of individual and social rights in Brazil reveals the arduous path toward the construction of a universal form of citizenship and, moreover, the ongoing challenges involved in guaranteeing the rights that have been achieved. Nevertheless, despite the multiple challenges related to ensuring and implementing social public policies capable of consolidating citizenship rights, groups historically identified as sub-citizens have played a central role in struggles for the universalization of citizenship and the rights that constitute it. From this analytical perspective, this study takes the territory of the Capão Redondo district, located in the southern zone of the city of São Paulo (SP), as its object of analysis. The research aims to understand the meanings of citizenship attributed by residents of Capão Redondo, particularly considering their relationships with social public policies, with special emphasis on the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS). To that end, the study draws on ten semi-structured interviews and participant engagement in the activities of a public service within SUAS, enabling dialogue with residents in order to comprehend the historical processes that shaped understandings of citizenship and the role of public policies in guaranteeing rights—especially social rights—within the territory. Capão Redondo was selected because of its long history of popular mobilization in response to expressions of social inequality that have marked—and continue to mark—the region. Grounded in socio-historical social psychology and using thematic analysis as an analytical tool, three themes were identified that encompass residents’ meanings of citizenship: relations of belonging, analysis of the provision of and access to social rights, and meanings of citizenship. These themes demonstrate that the territory, rather than merely serving as a backdrop, acts as a protagonist in the construction of strategies to guarantee citizenship rights. Furthermore, as the population mobilizes in response to lived conditions, it also transforms itself, highlighting that citizenship is always a collective process, mediated by access to rights through social public policies. Finally, the analysis indicates that although citizenship may be legally guaranteed as a status, in practice it is constituted as an ongoing process of struggle and claim-making, forged through the mobilizations of those who are often not recognized as citizens in their concrete social experience