The Transformations of the Workers’ Party at the Local Level: Territorial Roots, Professionalisation and Disenchantments

This presentation is based on a research at the local level, focusing on the social and political trajectories of PT’s militants in Recife (Pernambuco). Ethnografic observation of local electoral campaigning, of party members links with social movement organisations, and of local PT’s primaries shows some important transformations of the party organisation and membership. This presentation will be divided into two moments. The first part will describe some specificities of the PT in Recife at the beginning of the 21st century : how the PT takes roots at the very local level through a territorial structuration of militant groups ; the specificities of the party social “milieu” ; the diversity and inequalities of resource distribution among militants and local party leaders ; the position of rank-and-file members within the party. In the second part, the social transformations of party membership will analysed, highlighting four main processes : a process of learning municipal public action ; social and professional upward trajectories as a direct reward of long term militant involvement ; a new structuring of power within the party ; divergences of militant trajectories, from exit and disenchantment, to faith and loyalty.