A política cultural de fomento à leitura em contexto neoliberal: a experiência da Casa de Cultura Josué Montello (2008–2025)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes cultural policies for reading promotion in Brazil within a neoliberal context, focusing on the experience of the Casa de Cultura Josué Montello (CCJM), in São Luís, Maranhão, particularly through the Traveling Exhibition Project, developed between 2008 and 2025. The study is based on the understanding that reading constitutes a fundamental cultural right and an instrument of critical formation, social participation, and the democratization of written culture.The research investigates how public policies aimed at promoting reading are materialized in Maranhão, considering the contradictions between the normative advances of cultural policies and the limits imposed by neoliberalism, administrative discontinuity, and institutional fragility. Grounded in the theoretical contributions of Antonio Gramsci, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault, the dissertation understands reading policies as spaces of symbolic dispute, the production of hegemonies, and the reproduction of cultural inequalities. At the national level, the study discusses the legal and institutional frameworks of reading policies in the 21st century, with emphasis on the National Book and Reading Plan (PNLL), the National Reading and Writing Policy (PNLE), and the National System of Culture (SNC). The analysis shows that, although these initiatives have expanded the recognition of reading as a cultural right, their implementation remains limited by budget restrictions, political instability, and the growing influence of market-oriented logic in cultural policies. In the context of Maranhão, the research demonstrates that policies for reading promotion have historically been marked by discontinuity, weak institutional articulation, and insufficient investment. Methodologically, this is a qualitative study based on documentary analysis and the collection of institutional data related to the cultural actions developed by the CCJM between 2003 and 2025. The results indicate that, despite the structural limitations of public reading policies, the Traveling Exhibition Project significantly contributed to expanding access to books, strengthening reading practices, and promoting the appreciation of Maranhão’s literary culture. The study concludes that cultural policies for reading promotion, although shaped by the contradictions of the neoliberal context, remain essential for the realization of cultural rights and for the construction of a more democratic society.