The media discourse in the construction of social representations of Açominas.

Abstract

Brazilian industrialization, driven by the State between the 1960s and 1970s, was anchored in a developmentalist discourse that framed modernization and progress as the foundations for territorial restructuring. In Minas Gerais, this process was guided by planning policies that enabled the implementation of large-scale industrial projects. Within this context, the installation of the Aço Minas Gerais (Açominas) steel mill stands out, spanning from 1976 - marked by the declaration of public utility for the areas of Ouro Branco and Conselheiro Lafaiete - to its inauguration in 1986. This study investigates the representation of this undertaking in the local press, considering its role in legitimizing territorial transformations in the Alto Paraopeba region. To this end, a content analysis of headlines and reports published in the newspapers O Processo and Panorama was conducted, based on Serge Moscovici’s Theory of Social Representations. The results indicate a predominance of a technical and optimistic discourse, in which the undertaking is anchored in socially legitimized categories such as progress, development, and job creation, while simultaneously being objectified through recurring technical data, projections, and infrastructure descriptions that present it as a concrete and consolidated reality. This framing associates industrialization with modernization, thereby attenuating or silencing social conflicts, territorial impacts, and political tensions. By highlighting these processes, the study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that have sustained and naturalized developmental projects in Brazil.