Abstract
The purpose of this work is to develop part of a theoretical and analytical proposal that aimed at operationalizing the category ‘social space’ so that to contribute to the analysis of institutionalization processes among social movements. I will discuss, particularly, a possible reading of Henri Lefebvre’s book “The production of space” (1991), one which allows to apprehend the conceptual triad: spatial practices, representations of space and spaces of representation in relation to the concepts of territory and place, in order to understand the connections between space and institutionalization processes within some social movements in Latin America. To this end, the first part of the work is devoted to a theoretical discussion of Lefebvre’s category ‘social space’ and to its possible applicability to the concepts of territory and place. Then I will discuss the way as I define and understand institutionality and its connection with behaviors and possible trajectories of certain social movements in Latin America. Finally, I will outline a proposal for articulation that enables to understand the processes of territorial construction by such social movements as vectors of processes of institutionalization of their practices and meanings, through the analysis of a case: the neighborhood organization Tupac Amaru in the province of Jujuy.
Keywords:
Social movements; Spatial practices; Territory