A cidade em close up — imagens e apropriações do espaço em campanha eleitoral

Abstract

This article takes an analytical look at the speeches and practices of a number of different candidates during the municipal elections of 1996, highlighting points of convergence and the typical symbolism of what could be called the “urban vision of the election campaign". The hypothesis that is developed is that cities are looked at in terms of meanings of the imagination and of speeches which Jind expression in the way that they, the cities, are perceived, defined and classified. Political campaigns mobilize social and ideological symbols which are rejlected in the image of a city. Whether it be by emphasizing “its history", promising to control inequality or calling for people’s participation, the elections carry with them the signs of a rite of passage. In effect, the “urban vision of the election campaign” is characterized as much by its struggle for the supremacy over the memory and identity of a city, as by its ability to administrate this effectively.