Regime de Identificação Documentada dos cidadãos no contexto de construção da cidadania no Brasil

Abstract

The theme of this qualitative research was the importance of personal identification documents, which are informative records, legally recognized and intentionally produced by the State, which individualize and identify the citizen. The thesis was a pioneer in defining citizen documented identification regime (CDIR) as the dominant mode of information actions specifically aimed at the citizen identification by means of personal identification documents. The CDIR is theoretically anchored in academic production, especially in Information Science field, about information regime. Considering the birth certificate, the identity card and the Individual Taxpayer Registry (CPF in Brazilian Portuguese) as personal identification documents with the greatest scope of use and coverage of the Brazilian population, the hypothesis of this thesis was that the CDIR, analyzed through the legislation of these three documents, reveals, evidences and reproduces the construction of citizenship in Brazil. The objective was to investigate the characteristics and political and social constraints of the CDIR in the citizenship building context in the country, through the historical trajectory of the three main personal identification documents in Brazil. This descriptive and explanatory study resorted to the use of bibliographic research, documental research and content analysis. One hundred and fifty-four legal provisions, from 1838 to 2021, on the three selected personal identification documents were analyzed. This empirical analysis, which focused mainly on the circumstantial use of information, the normative framework, institutional actors and political choices, allowed a high level of synthesis for the elaboration of a historical interpretation for the CDIR in the country. It was possible to observe situations in which the use of personal identification documents resulted in civic social acts, which demonstrates the constitutive power of such documents in society. The results showed that there was an expansion of the legal dimension of citizenship related to the citizen documented identification. In the analysis of the main institutional actors of the RDIC, the Catholic Church, the registry offices, the police institutions and, currently, the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service have been highlighted. It was observed the progressive political choices in order to include Brazilians in the right to obtain personal identification documents. Linking the granting of social rights to the presentation of personal identification documents corroborates the understanding that in Brazil social rights promoted other rights. The growing importance of the CPF, as a form of citizen identification, indicates that the control over the income is what provided the best control of the State over the citizen. The hypothesis of this research was confirmed and it became clear that the CDIR and citizenship are processes with mutual conditioning and in constant construction.