This article, with its basis in theses and dissertations produced in the second half of the 1990's, in the Post-graduate Program in Sociology at the Federal University of Ceará, analyzes the theoretico-empirical trajectory of sociological and anthropological production that had the theme of the city as its object of investigation. The works analyzed express theoretical and methodological movements predominant in the social sciences, during this time in Brazil. They also demonstrate the growing interest in a micro-sociological scale in approaches to the urban, as one of the effects of the influence of anthropology in the methodological and theoretical treatment of these objects. There emerges, from this set of works, an element of conflict in the practices of power, in relation to territories in cities, influenced by approaches coming from political geography. French sociology and history contribute with theoretical perspectives that prioritize the sense of creation and insubordination conferred on spaces as lived by distinct social actors. In this set of works, the neighborhood appears as a microcosm of social practices permeated by senses of belonging and conflict with place, as expressive of broader social struggles.
Sociology; Urban Spaces; Approaches; Student production