Nomes do possível: autêntica lembrança e estudo sequencial das políticas autonômicas no extremo norte do Uruguai

Abstract

My interlocutors of the sugarcane cutters popular movement of NorthernUruguay enunciated their political purposes by referring to a set of emblematic words that, according to them, point to the existence of an old-time ‘autonomy’ that could nowadays be actualized. This kind of perspective regarding the past belongs to the realm of ‘authentic memories’ (Walter Benjamin) and raise the hypothesis that a past event can be rediscovered in light of current concerns that make it an object of political attention. I verify this hypothesis through a ‘sequential analysis of politics’ (Sylvain Lazarus). I select some words that capture the attention of my interlocutors and then I immerse myself in the forms of consciousness that such words once held. Finally, I reflect on how a contemporary political process can give us access to an oldtime autonomic experience, exposing us to what Benjamin would call ‘crystallization in monad’ of the time of emancipation.