O progresso da cidade e da nação: o petróleo, a refinaria e a urbanização de Duque de Caxias (RJ)

Abstract

This Master's thesis presents a historical analysis and a study of documents related to the material and symbolic production of Duque de Caxias, Brazil, focusing on the Duque de Caxias Refinery (REDUC). The research relies on news articles from Folha de Caxias, A Luta Democrática, O Municipal, and Jornal do Brasil published between 1957 and 1972, and job advertisement and real estate ads during the same period. Furthermore, I analyze the "Integrated Development Plan of the Municipality of Duque de Caxias," which outlines a series of plans for the reorganization of the city's space. Through the examination of these documents, I investigate the development and interplay of the refinery's materiality as infrastructure within the urban context. Employing the analytical lens of infrastructure studies, I approach REDUC as a fundamentally relational materiality, exploring the production of the urban space and the role of petroleum as a catalyst for dreams, futures, predictions, expectations, symbols, and materialities. This framework allows for an analysis of the urbanization and industrialization in Duque de Caxias.