Civil society and public spaces in Brazil: case study: National Forum of Urban Reform - FNRU

Based on the experience of the FNRU (National Forum of Urban Reform) in Brazil, this research paper investigates public spaces constituted within civil society and tries to analyse what types of relations they establish with the State. The paper aims:

• to analyse what elements these articulations bring to characterise a new form of association in Brazil;
• to investigate how FNRU’s internal relations are established, in an attempt to comprehend how the production of consensus takes place;
• to identify what are the impacts of articulations such as FNRU on the performance of different social actors inserted in them, especially when it involves meetings with governmental agencies;
• To analyse what consequences the format of articulation produces in the interlocutory process of civil society with the public power: a) to understand to what extent the construction of a collective actor strengthens civil society in its relation with the State; b) to investigate whether the moments of encounter with the governmental agencies have any impact on FNRU’s internal cohesion; c) to identify the possible changes that the meetings between FNRU and governmental agencies produce for both sides involved.

The paper concludes by emphasising the challenges of building a regular and systematic functioning of the articulation spaces, where the agenda and interests of the different entities involved do not always coincide. It points out that if the guarantee of a forum’s existence lies in the possibility of formation of consensus, its political energy depends on the open space for the manifestation of the “different speeches”, the expression of divergence. And finally, it questions how these forums can maintain legitimacy and represent a collection of entities when taking their intervention to a more public sphere.