Assistência social e cultura política: o processo de uma política em construção

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the changes produced in the political culture of the Social Assistance in the city of Leopoldina - MG after the implementation of the Unic Sistem of Social Assistance . The study was developed through qualitative research, conducted through semi-structured interviews with professionals from the Basic Social Protection of the Unic Sistem of Social Assistance of the city and 12 professionals were interviewed. In this direction, we analyze the intervention and the perception of this professionals in relation to political culture and in relation to the Social Assistance Policy expliciting the debate about the political culture of the Social Assistance in the city in question. The results showed that the Unic Sistem of Social Assistance has brought many advances to the Social Assistance in Leopoldina with emphasis on the possibility of overcoming the historical culture based on the ideology of welfare benefit, aid, personal relationships, patrimonialism, clientelism among others. However, even with all the democratic advance that Unic Sistem of Social Assistance represents to the reality of Social Assistance Policy in Leopoldina, is still intense in the city a conservative project that represented by the welfare and the personal relationships and power, remains in the local distinctive features of a past still present and that coupled with the neoliberal project of profoundly reducing characteristics of the state and social rights prevent the full realization of the project of democratization embraced by Unic Sistem of Social Assistance.