SOCIAl AND CUlTURAL ACTIVISMS IN POPULAR DISTRICTS OF SALVADOR, BAHIA

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND POLITICS AND THE NEW ELEMENTS IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Abstract

The present article is based on empirical studies in popular districts of Salvador-Bahia. It seeks to show the interfaces between quotidian social activisms and popular culture manifestations in these areas. Special attention is paid to the relationships between culture and politics and contested definitions of space in the contemporary city. This articulation, which is not always with a “social movement” or “associating movement”, gives particular character to these districts and shows that there are multiple organizational forms of agents and groups in popular districts. It also shows the way in which new forms of social relations are articulated, and especially explores the articulation between culture and politics in daily life in one new public area thus grounding the work in the specific examination of a concrete place. The paper concludes with an emphasis on the importance of the sociability/solidarity networks concept in urban geography and its value in analysing these activisms. It is argued that this concept justifies a social, cultural and spatial approach to these new organizational forms that arise in popular districts of our cities.