Crime and criminalization of social movements, workers and urban life in the press (Manaus, 1985-1989)

Abstract

This article is the result of the discussions of the Institutional Program of Scholarships for Scientific Initiation (PIBIC) entitled “Crime and Criminalization in the Press: Social Movements and Urban Life in the city of Manaus (1985-1989)”, made possible by the reflection on the written periodical press as an active force in the representation of criminality and criminalization of social movements and other urban actions in the city of Manaus, between the years 1985 and 1989. Focusing on the production of a large circulation newspaper, we tried to understand the interests and regional disputes that chained, at that moment, also values around the ideology of progress. The political sphere in which these different contents are intertwined has broad cultural perspectives, and the article, with strong media appeal, contributes to the articulation of commercial and business interests, being equally the target of resistance from workers organized within their own ways of life in the city. The time frame analyzed marks the end of the 1964 civil-military dictatorship and its aftermath, going through the promulgation of the 1988 Federal Constitution of Brazil with the consolidation, in this text, of important policies on the right to the city, which advanced the civilizing milestone in the country. Such debates were also present in the press of the period, including the participation, in these pages, of diverse historical subjects who fought for democracy at the time.