Communication and Information in the Programa Territórios da Cidadania: the Case of the Território da Cidadania Noroeste Colonial

Abstract

The Programa Territórios da Cidadania (PTC) was created in 2008 by the Brazilian government in order to expand access to public policies, especially for the excluded rural populations. To fulfill this purpose, we adopted a social management model and divided Brazil into territorial units, among which is the Território da Cidadania Noroeste Colonial (TC-NORC). This article analyses the limits and possibilities of communication and information in the TC-NORC, in order to understand the extent to which discussion processes substantiate the institutional objectives of the PTC. At first, we conducted a bibliographic survey on social management and communication and, later, interviewed people involved with the program. The TC-NORC experience shows that the program does, in fact, enable civil society to exercise its political role. However, the existence of other channels to compete for public resources, the exclusion of important social actors and the disinterest of entities, are factors which limit the capacity of transforming people’s interests in sustainable development projects. In order for the territorial debates to implement institutional objectives of the program, representing the society’s interests, it is essential to rethink the communications project, enabling the use of media.