São Luiz do Paraitinga, SP: civil society actions in the preservation of the local cultural heritage

• Grant number: 21/14757-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: April 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Manoela Rossinetti Rufinoni
• Grantee: Beatriz Monteiro Ferraz
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to identify and analyze social initiatives aimed at preserving the historical and cultural heritage of São Luiz do Paraitinga, the state of São Paulo, with a focus on actions promoted after the great flood that hit the city in 2010. Considering the importance of engagement of the local population in preservation actions, our aim is to study how the debates about the valuation of local heritage and the role of civil society initiatives after the flood and after the restorations carried out by state and federal preservation agencies (CONDEPHAAT and IPHAN) developed for the recovery of destroyed buildings and urban spaces. In the 1870s, the city played a peripheral role in the coffee economy that was emerging in the Vale do Paraíba region, in São Paulo; and, as it was not a great producer of the product, its economic development was hampered. This condition would have allowed its urban structures to reach the beginning of the 21st century still with characteristics of its foundation, dating from the mid-18th century. However, in 2010 the city was flooded and a significant part of its historic center was destroyed. From then on, there was an urgent need to rebuild lost urban architectures and spaces, triggering heated debates on the most appropriate ways to undertake such interventions and boosting the involvement of civil society in actions to preserve and interpret local heritage. Initially, we will seek to understand how the processes of state and federal registration of the historic center of the city occurred and the actions of preservation agencies after the flood, both in the reconstruction of the ruined constructed heritage and in the promotion of participatory actions with the local community. Sequentially, we will collect records of post-flood preservation actions that departed and/or depart from participatory projects or from civil society itself - universities, foundations, and local associations dedicated to the protection of heritage, community mobilizations, etc. - with the purpose of analyzing the origins, objectives, and formats of these local initiatives focused on safeguarding and valuing memory in the city. In a second moment, we will seek to verify the narratives that such initiatives give rise to and to what extent they dialogue with the actions of the State, that is, of the government agencies operating in the municipality (at municipal, state, and federal levels) aimed at preserving cultural heritage. (AU)