Cultura política e a organização política dos assistentes sociais na virada do serviço social crítico: o caso de Minas Gerais

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the culture and political organization of the professional category of social workers in the critical turning point of the profession that occurred between 1960 and 1990. Our objective is to analyze the sociopolitical context in which this process took place, especially in the state of Minas Gerais, and how it impacted the construction of the professional political culture of Social Work in Minas Gerais. To this end, we chose to analyze the two main instances of political organization of the category, namely: the union organization and the CFESS/CRESS group, as we consider that these instances played a decisive role in the process of change, construction, and dissemination of professional political culture. We focused more specifically on the case of Minas Gerais, that is, on the critical turning point that occurred in the state and how the events that took place there contributed to the critical turning point of the profession at the national level. For the research, we conducted extensive documentary and bibliographic research, as well as open interviews with two professionals who were directly involved in the process, in order to understand the inner workings of this movement both inside and outside the profession. Due to the limitations of the research, this thesis focused on the developments that occurred, especially in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. We found that social work in Minas Gerais played a leading role in several critical turning points at the national level and consolidated a strong critical political culture within the profession.