INDIVIDUATION AND SOCIAL BONDS IN URBAN PERIPHERIES: REFLECTION FROM PRODUCTION OF NARRATIVES

Abstract

This study proposes an articulated discussion vis-à-vis some social changes regarding ‘late modernity,’ proposing, however, the consideration of its diffraction in urban peripheries. Thus, upon considering the data collected in the incursions to socially vulnerable areas in Porto Alegre, Brazil, between 2010 and 2017, this paper proposes a discussion about individualization processes engendered by the denizens of these places. Danilo Martucelli’s propositions constitute the main theoretical references for our analysis, especially regarding the notion of ‘social trial’, and the field activities were developed on the basis of “narrative interviews” mostly. We analyze the statements in accordance with elements of biographical research, taking complementary contributions from the structural analysis of narratives. This fostered considerations about the constitution an agentive individualization — as pointed out by the aforementioned author —, which, recently, may be associated to the social experiencing of “risk.” Therefore, upon especially considering the flexibilization of labor relations and the intensification of armed conflicts in the territories, the establishment of social bonds becomes an arena of patent challenges with the aim of maintaining the reciprocal bonds and the trustworthy coexistence for the individuals’ engagements.