Walks, Names and Youths: Indicating Hegemony and Resistance in Small Towns in Northeastern of Brazil

Abstract

This article treats hegemony and resistance in the small cities of Redenção and Acarape, located in the Baturité Mountains of Ceará State. These processes are illustrated in walks undertaken in the urban fringe of the two cities, in analyzing the meaning of town names and in investigating the emergence of new types of youth who experience conflicts in everyday city life. Urban hegemony, resistance and alternative practices in the social production of the urban space were provoked by the creation of UNILAB University in Redenção and Acarape in 2011. This campus introduced a large number of new social actors, many of whom were young people, black, indigene and female. The new actors did not fit into the hegemonic city and indeed created tensions in local spatial and hegemonic practices. Methods used involved primary and secondary data from document analysis, interviews, questionnaires and ethnographic observation.