Used territory in the city of one-dimensional thought: a reading of Quarto de Despejo and the reproduction of life in Brazilian cities

Abstract

This article analyzes the book Quarto de Despejo: Diário de uma Favelada (Child of the Dark), by Carolina Maria de Jesus, through the perspective of Milton Santos’ (1996) concept of “used territory” and the urban critique developed by Ermínia Maricato (2013), particularly in the text “The Place Outside of Ideas and Ideas Outside of Place”. Adopting a qualitative approach and using Bardin’s (2016) content analysis technique, the study examines excerpts from Carolina’s diary (2014) that portray living conditions in marginalized urban territories. The analysis, developed with support of webQDA software, is structured around four categories: housing, labor, food, and neighborhood/community. The article seeks to highlight how the author, based on her experience as a Black woman and resident of the Canindé favela (SP), exposes the contradictions of Brazilian urbanization, shaped by exclusion, invisibility and structural precariousness. The account presented in the book shows that, despite the absence of public policies and institutional support, the favela as a space of resistance, solidarity, and everyday life production. By articulating literature, critical geography and urban studies, the article argues that Quarto de Despejo is not only a personal testimony, but also a powerful social document that denounces the logic of exclusion within Brazilian cities. Thus, it reaffirms the importance of recognizing popular territories as legitimate spaces for urban production, challenging the dominant technical and normative thinking about the city.