Grupo Mulher Maravilha: a força das mulheres de Nova Descoberta/Recife em tempos de redemocratização (1975-1988)

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the actions and contributions of the Mulher Maravilha Group (GMM) for Brazil’s redemocratization and the construction of proposals for the Constituent Assembly, taking the period from 1975 to 1988 as a time frame. The Mulher Maravilha Group from Nova Descoberta, Recife-PE, was officially founded in 1975 by women who did not conform to the situation of oppression they experienced on a daily basis, a reality that, at that time, reflected on the entire Brazilian people. Therefore, this research is anchored in debates developed by historiography on civil-military dictatorship, redemocratization, social movements, urban peripheral movements, gender studies and feminist movements. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, this research is based on debates raised by researchers such as Joana Maria Pedro, Rachel Soihet, Rebecca Tarlau, Maria da Glória Gohn and Ilse Scherer-Warren. When it comes to the Mulher Maravilha Group’s creation and actions, two external actors stand out, the Catholic Church and clandestine organizations. Paulo Freire's educational pedagogy was also an important tool for the teaching-learning process and the collective construction of knowledge developed by the GMM. Thus, in order to meet the investigative proposal and the outlined objectives, this research used a qualitative approach using oral sources, from semi-structured interviews with women of the Group, and documents found in the physical collection of the GMM. Therefore, this research highlights the participation of women from the neighborhood of Nova Descoberta as actors of social articulations that sought the end of the civil-military dictatorship, the redemocratization of the country and the promulgation of a new Constitutional Charter that guaranteed civil, social and political rights for women.