Beira da Mata: From (Urban) Occupation to Community

Abstract

Land ownership is one of the main causes of social conflict. Expulsion processes in the countryside and in the commodified city produce socio-spatial inequalities. Lacking access to land and housing, through illegal occupation, the socially excluded population forms precarious territories, often in areas protected by environmental legislation. This paper discusses the theoretical and methodological foundations of an ongoing university extension project to develop a socio-environmental diagnosis in collaboration with the Beira da Mata urban settlement, located near an Environmental Preservation Area (APA). The text offers a theoretical discussion of extension practices from the perspective of action research, drawing on the approach known as advocacy, understanding them as policies and pedagogies that contribute to the struggle of peripheral populations for the right to the city. Therefore, this is a qualitative study that connects theory with field practices, using multiple methods: bibliographic and documentary research, participant observation, and discussion groups.