Memory, work and the city: contributions to the contemporary debate about the place of the working class

Abstract

This paper brings a debate about memory and the right to the city as means to identify conflicts and contradictions in urban history and in the capitalist mode of production through an articulated reading of the reality of the working class, envisioning ways to understand and face its transformations in the contemporary scenario. The consensus historically established by hegemonic traditions that have camouflaged conflicts in the working-class trajectory and in the production of space are questioned. To this end, the consolidation of the industrial heritage as a field is resumed from the 1950s until its diffusion in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro in recent decades, analyzing the place occupied by the worker in this process. Scenes from the working-class memory of Rio are shown to demonstrate the erasure, plurality and complexity of the class. Finally, we present the example of Bangu, a neighborhood in the west of Rio de Janeiro, through different profiles of workers and their relation with heritage and memory.