Representações da hegemonia política: identidade e religião na espacialização das formas simbólicas em Palmas - TO (1989 – 2017)

Abstract

The present thesis, titled "Representations of political hegemony: identity and religion in the spatialization of symbolic forms in Palmas, TO (1989 – 2017)," aims to identify which political groups built and/or demolished monuments in the city of Palmas and, above all, what political intentions underpinned the construction of these spatial symbolic forms. Thus, the following guiding questions are proposed: Are there political intentions behind the construction, demolition, and restoration of monuments in Palmas? To what extent do the monuments in the city carry meanings within political, religious, cultural, and identity-related dimensions? What are the possibilities that these monuments are linked to the mnemonic construction of the city's becoming and that of its inhabitants, considering the solidification of political figures and hegemonic groups responsible for the construction of these monuments, buildings, and squares? This study falls within the field of qualitative research. It employs the phenomenological method and utilizes bibliographic research, field and documentary research, direct observation, and interviews. The results of the reflections and debates developed throughout this study reinforce the thesis that the construction of the city's symbolic spatial forms was the result of a coordinated set of political actions, carried out by a hegemonic political group led by the state's first governor, José Wilson Siqueira Campos, and his allies.. However, despite the attempt to invent traditions through these symbolic icons, it was found that the capital's inhabitants appropriated these symbols and identified with them, leading to the crystallization of the aspirations of its creator, José Wilson Siqueira Campos. As the first governor of the state of Tocantins and the territory’s administrator for four political terms, he played a fundamental role throughout the 34 years since the city's founding.