A THE PRIVATE APPROPRIATION OF THE HISTORIC CENTER OF THE CITY OF SALVADOR

AN ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE EXTINCTION AND RESTORATION OF THE BRAZILIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE (2019-2022)

Abstract

This paper investigates the recent paradigm shift in the public management of the historical heritage of Salvador's Historic Centre, which went from governments investing in a revitalization modeled for tourism (1990-2015), to governments seeking legal and financial models modeled for the unrestricted exploitation of the site by big private capital (2016-2022), treating its material, landscape and immaterial assets as financial assets. The interpretive framework for this change was identified with the election of the Brazilian federal government, in 2019 which, due to its extreme right-wing characteristics, ended up revealing an unexpected political alignment with the left-wing and center-right (respectively) local governments (state and municipal), in the ideas it presented for the management of cultural assets, thus giving more clarity to the plots of this process at the local level. This change continues despite the urgent social demands that the city is facing and the growing mobilization of social movements in the area. The contribution of this work is to raise critical awareness of this process, strengthening the idea of historical heritage as a public good and supporting the militancy of social movements, since, even with a different national political situation, the articulations made in the previous administration are still ongoing.