On instruments for direct action in the production of space

Abstract

This paper discusses the possibility of direct action of self-organized groups of urban dwellers in the decision-making on the production of microlocal space.  To this end, it draws from Marcelo Lopes de Souza’s (2006 and 2012) problematization of the constraints to the relation between urban social movements and the state and of the potential proactive role of civil society in the planning and management of space together with the state, despite the state, and against the state. This paper, then, develops an argument in favor of social movements political actions against the state. For that it presents the case of a group of favela dwellers in Belo Horizonte and draw from a critical anarchist approach on the structure of the state. In conclusion, based on the notion of interface (Ana Paula Baltazar, 2007, 2012, 2013; Ana Paula Baltazar & Silke Kapp, 2006, 2009), this paper identifies features that might contribute to the formulation of alternatives to the instruments employed by the state, fostering the dwellers’ self-organization and autonomy.