Entre o concebido e o vivido: cotidiano, experiências e apropriações urbanas no núcleo fabril da CVRD em Teofilândia/BA (1987-2003)

Abstract

In the late 1980s, the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) built the CVRD Housing Complex in the city of Teofilândia/BA to accommodate its workers on site. Although this complex represents an important case study of company towns built by companies, no in-depth studies on its history have been found. Additionally, the search for archives and documents that could provide information about its formation revealed a significant narrative of progress and socioeconomic development. In this context, the present research aimed to investigate the history of the Teofilândia company town, simultaneously seeking to weaken the existing narrative of progress by using the perspectives of the workers who lived there. For this purpose, Henri Lefebvre's triad of conceived, lived, and perceived space was employed as a basis to encompass the complexities and contradictions of the history of this company town. The methodological approach involved documentary and field research, as well as interviews with key figures who participated in the formation and construction process of the company town, and with 18 former residents of the Teofilândia company town. After categorizing and analysing the data, the research results showed that the CVRD company town was a stage for tension between alienation and appropriation, and therefore, its history cannot be summarized solely as a narrative of progress and development. As a contribution, this study brings the perspective that company town were spaces of constant transformations, which originated especially in the daily life and small actions of their residents.