The Perceptions and Participation of Community Leaders in Improving Living Conditions in a Context of High Social Vulnerability in the Municipality of Cubatão (SP) from a Psychosocial Perspective
摘要
This is an empirical study with a qualitative approach that investigates the perceptions and actions of community leaders about the reality of vulnerability, marginalization, and violence, reflecting on the articulations that occur or don’t occur in a territory with highly vulnerable conditions. It analyzes documents from a database—made up of in-depth interviews, workshops, and field diaries, originally collected by other researchers in a previous study—using socio-historical psychology (Sawaia, 2011), depth hermeneutics (Thompson, 2011), and qualitative epistemology (González-Rey et al. 2011). It chooses three main axes for discussion: (1) the weaknesses of social participation; (2) the potential of female leadership; and (3) the value of everyday experiences. It found that awareness of vulnerability and the capacity for collective and political articulation are fundamental and necessary elements for confronting oppression. It notes that leaders play an important role due to their ability to mobilize the population and create coping strategies based on the production and valorization of their knowledge from their experiences in the territory.