O processo de empobrecimento no bairro de Chamanculo "B"

Abstract

The present dissertation with the title "the Process of impoverishment in the neighborhood of Chamanculo B" is part of the context of reflection on suburban poverty. It is based on the description, analysis and understanding of the way in which a certain layer of the population has undergone, in the last years or decades, a process of impoverishment due to the degradation of the living conditions of the environment in which that layer lives. In other words, it is a proposal to formulate a hypothesis through the verification of the quality of life - or material conditions - of that same population over the years, coincidentally from the last years of the colonial period up to this part, in the context of suburban life. First, and following the scientific methodology, we asked ourselves a question that was whether it was possible to perceive poverty as a gradual process of deterioration in living conditions. And as a provisional proposal, we assume that poverty can result from the degradation of living conditions in the environment in which people live. To this end, we carry out, on the one hand, a bibliographic search and a work on definitions and approaches to poverty, both in the sociological literature and in official and unofficial documents. In the archival work, we revisited the existing information related to the city of Maputo - or Lourenço Marques. In the process, we periodized suburban neighborhoods to find out how well equipped they were. On the other hand, we carried out fieldwork in which the following techniques for collecting information were applied: the semi-structured interview, cross-sectional walk and direct observation. Second, the analysis and interpretation of the data collected during the empirical investigation was carried out. These data were, in turn, compared with those of bibliographic research as well as those of archival work. From the analysis and interpretation of the information collected, we realized that our working hypothesis was subject to confirmation. It means that this information reinforced our suspicion evident in the hypothesis. Therefore, the data provided indicated a tendency for the emergence of a new type of poverty in the neighborhood in question, namely the impoverishment of people who in the past, and sometimes traditionally, were not considered to be poor; of people who have lived in this neighborhood for a long time; of people who were, up to a certain time, affluent. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)