THE INDIVIDUAL AS A SUBJECT OF SOCIAL CONFLICTS: IDENTITY AND TERRITORY

Abstract

At the first electoral moment in Brasilia, when the relationships between the society and the territory were changing from a more technical relation to a political one there was a need to emphasise the equality of the social processes between the “Plano Piloto” and the satellite cities in the outskirts of Brasilia. The main goal of such an atittude was to raise the outskirts inhabitants self-esteem and to surpass conflicts. Interviews were conducted with inhabitants of Samambaia, with the Regional Administrator and with the communities’ leaderships in order to analyse the dynamics of the authorities’ performance. It was seen that the low self-esteem was being surpassed and a political speech was then encouraged, in which the chaotic city of Samambaia was being substituted by a bona fide city of the future. The metaphor of the mosaic, where people of different origins live in the same place, was used to balance the differences between “Plano Piloto” and “Samambaia”. The different social relations that were built between the two territories were then hidden.