Terra de promessas, chão de fábrica: a industrialização no Maranhão e a memória do trabalho em Coelho Neto, MA (1960-1970)

This article analyzes the social impacts of the modernization project known as “Maranhão Novo” during the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the case study of the implementation of the Celulose e Papéis do Maranhão S.A (Cepalma) factory in the municipality of Coelho Neto (MA). The research places in dialogue the official discourse of progress and development, conveyed by newspapers of the era, with the lived experience of the region's workers. The documentary corpus consists of selected newspapers from the era, sourced from the Brazilian Digital Periodical Library (Hemeroteca Digital Brasileira), and the oral account of Ms. Gabriela Moura, 59, the daughter of a former Cepalma worker. The study investigates the actual working conditions, the community's expectations, and the contradictions of an industrialization model that did not translate into social well-being for the local community, frustrating the promises of development.