A luta pelo direito à moradia na pandemia: as experiências das ocupações de moradia em Aracaju/SE

Abstract

The study analyzes housing struggles in Aracaju/SE during the pandemic period (2020– 2022). With the increasing financialization of housing, a global rise in the number of slums and forced evictions has been observed, resulting from the transformation of housing into a financial asset, significantly burdening the working class. In Brazil, this financialization has intensified the housing crisis, as the country lacks a history of public housing production and offers limited private market options for lower-income populations, leading to self-construction in precarious areas. This process has also fueled the growth of urban occupations as a response to the deepening housing needs, a situation further aggravated by sanitary demands. Given this context, the study aimed to understand the actions and experiences of urban occupations in their struggle for housing in the face of the economic, political, and health crises affecting the highly financialized housing sector. The research and analysis were based on the historical-dialectical materialism method, considering the categories that define and shape the object in its totality. This was an exploratory, mixed-method study that incorporated quantitative and qualitative approaches, utilizing bibliographic and documentary sources through primary and secondary data, as well as empirical research conducted with leaders from three housing occupations in Aracaju/SE. Data collection was carried out through a focus group and semi-structured interviews, using a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method. The findings indicate that, during the pandemic, the housing issue became even more critical, with living conditions and residential locations playing a key role in exposure to Covid19 infection and mortality rates. In Aracaju, the housing policy framework has been largely shaped to serve capital interests, reinforcing socio-spatial segregation of the poor. This dynamic was exacerbated during the pandemic, with mortality rates concentrated in the most vulnerable areas. The reality of the studied occupations highlights the importance of joint actions with national social movements in mobilizing (campaigns, marches, dialogues with the judiciary and legislature) against eviction suspensions and forced removals. Additionally, the study underscores the insufficiency of public initiatives in addressing the urgent housing and health crises affecting urban occupations, with little consideration given to the precarious living conditions that contribute to the spread and lethality of the virus. It is concluded that the main actions in the struggle for housing during the pandemic are the defense of organized occupation as a fundamental strategy in response to housing and health emergencies, community organization, the collectivization of demands, and connection with social movements and institutions to build alternatives for housing precarities. It was also found that these actions go beyond periods of crisis, representing a constant effort to combat historical inequalities and ensure social justice in access to the city.