PINTO, J. S.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/7332003668535377; PINTO, Jorge Soares.
Abstract:
<How is the legitimacy of leadership constructed within a community movement?= This
question constitutes the main line of this research carried out with the community movement in
the region of Patos, Paraíba. This movement proved the emergence in 1994 of the Union of
Community Associations of Patos and Region (UAC), an organization with the purpose of
leading the community struggle in this region, bringing together a large number of urban and
rural associations present in 26 municipalities in Paraíba, with headquarters in Ducks. Its
presidents, José Gonçalves da Silva Filho, José Ilton Oliveira Batista, Elizabete Barreto de
Oliveira and Veridiano da Silva Martins, at the same time worked in the field of struggles for
improvements in neighborhoods, representing the social movement organized in community
associations as <organizations of base=, sought to build for themselves an ideal image of
community leadership. From the analysis of the subjects' narratives, it was possible to
understand that the construction of leadership legitimacy to speak on behalf of the struggle in
the local community movement goes beyond occupying the position of president of this social
organization. This legitimacy was built from social resources and power observed in the
community field under study, such as the recognition of the constructed image of a community
leader, the self-construction of this image, the time spent in activism, brokerage relationships,
the feeling of belonging constructed and the results of conflicts. The search for legitimacy for
community leadership revealed a dichotomy between acceptance and rejection of new actors
and produced a paradox between achievements and cooling down in this community movement.
Certainly, the presidents of the UAC positioned themselves as instruments for building this
community movement while building the legitimacy of their leaders, in Patos, Paraíba.
