Public Defense´s Professionals in Municipal Public Policy Committees: reflections on collective identities

Abstract

This article offers, based on the dimension of collective identity, an analysis of the political consciousness of professionals from the Public Defense's Office related to the performance (or their absence) within municipal public policy committees, considering it as a form of political action. It is a qualitative research using Content Analysis for data treatment and Salvador Sandoval's Political Consciousness Model as a theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews were carried out classified into two groups of eleven professionals: the first composed of professionals who worked with municipal committees and the second by professionals who did not have this performance. Collective identities of government employee and related to the professional category were identified, with an emphasis on first one by the first group of professionals. In both groups, there was no predominant collective identity of militants and rare approximation of political parties was identified by professionals, who seek recognition as formal and technical professionals.