Spatial fractures

Toponymy as a typology of social domination

Abstract

The primacy of housing is articulated with the territory, scrutinized in neighborhoods, whose very names may reflect the concepts of luxury, privileges, poverty and submission, as the fabric of asymmetries of political and social power. With this premise, this article presents the symbology of urban space through its toponymy, as a concrete representation of the rigid traditional, conservative and excluding structure of cities. Two medium municipalities were selected for the study – Araraquara and Taubaté. Taking the toponymy as a reference and classifying the set of names based on Maria Vicentina de Paula do Amaral Dick taxonomy, the symbolic contrast of the names between the housing projects aimed at the poor population and the condominiums and neighborhoods aimed at the rich population is pointed out, in both cases having the dominant classes as holders of the power of naming space and creating meanings.