A organização para a resistência : uma análise da estrutura organizacional numa casa de candomblé sergipano

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the organizational structure of a Candomblé house in Sergipe, understanding it as a symbolic and functional system that sustains the cultural and characteristic resistance of the people of the saint. The investigation is based on the premise that the terreiro, as a social and religious organization, constitutes a space for collective management of the sacred, in which hierarchy, formative processes, and ritual roles are structuring elements that ensure the group's cohesion, continuity, and legitimacy. By articulating concepts of organizational theory with the anthropological perspective of Afro-Brazilian religions, the study seeks to demonstrate that the internal structure of Candomblé goes beyond the merely religious dimension, configuring itself as a form of community management that preserves and transmits ancestral knowledge while resisting colonial logic and the dynamics of exclusion imposed by the dominant society. From the analysis of the relational dynamics between leaders (Babálorìṣà and Iyálórìṣà), initiates, and abiãs, it becomes clear that the ritual order and hierarchical division of the terreiro are not instruments of domination, but of collective strengthening, cohesion, and cultural safeguarding. Thus, the organizational structure of Candomblé is interpreted as a device of symbolic and practical resistance, capable of articulating tradition and adaptability in the face of contemporary transformations and the social tensions that mark the Afro-Brazilian religious field in Sergipe.