Contribuições acadêmicas de Maria do Livramento Clementino: a interpretação do lugar em suas múltiplas escalas

Abstract

The present work intends to discuss the theoretical and methodological approaches, about the studies of the new productive dynamics and hierarchies and the non-metropolized urban agglomerations, presented by professor Maria do Livramento Miranda Clementino at the time of the discipline “Rio Grande do Norte and Natal as an object and field of study”. The course’s contributions and the teacher’s legacy are presented to the entire academic community that study on related topics. It is intended to contribute to the consolidation of alternative theoretical and methodological approaches to urbanization studies in non-metropolitan areas. The results of Clementino’s methodology point out that the transformations of spaces and territories are: i) products of heterogeneous and conflicting processes, and results of historical social struggles, economic, political, cultural and power relations; ii) that there should be no territorial sections without explanatory meaning and free from the cartographic analogy; iii) the configuration of the territory is a balanced result of the performance of political and economic forces, and iv) heterodox formulations and interdisciplinarity are important in the theoretical and methodological conception in the analysis of conflicts that structure a given space and its legacy to future generations. It is concluded that Clementino presents three major procedures in its methodology on the studies of the place: i) the methods and warnings to be considered; ii) the importance of characterizing, historically situating and mediating the place, now studied, within a context of multiple scales and ii) the need to reflect on the recent scenarios of transformations of the place and their respective inducers.