OFFICIAL REGION, LIVED REGION: AMCESPAR AND THE INVENTION OF PARANÁ’S “CENTER-SOUTH”

Abstract

This article examines the designation “Center-South of Paraná”, appropriated by the Association of Municipalities of the Center-South of Paraná (AMCESPAR) and widely disseminated by media and institutional actors, in light of the official regionalization schemes produced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Paraná Institute for Economic and Social Development (IPARDES). Drawing on a critical, historical-geographical approach grounded in debates on region as an analytical category, an institutional delineation, and a lived region, the study reconstructs the evolution of IBGE’s regional divisions for Paraná between 1942 and 2017 (Physiographic Zones; Homogeneous and Geographic Mesoregions and Microregions; Immediate and Intermediate Geographic Regions), relating them to the state-level regionalization established by State Law No. 15,825/2008. Methodologically, documentary research and comparative cartographic analysis are combined with a survey of media and institutional uses of the expression “Center-South of Paraná” across the ten member municipalities. The results show that, in all regional grids examined, AMCESPAR’s territory is assigned to different official units, but never as a cohesive region officially named “Center-South of Paraná”, thus constituting a political-identity artefact that cuts across federal and state regionalizations. The article clarifies the regional location mismatch associated with the uncritical use of the expression, while recognizing the legitimacy of the lived region, and proposes guidelines for rigorously presenting the regional location of AMCESPAR municipalities in academic works, technical reports, and institutional documents.