Materialization of race and racism in medical knowledge and practice and in health policies

• Grant number: 24/07360-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: February 05, 2025
• End date: February 04, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Regina Facchini
• Grantee: William Paulino Rosa
• Supervisor: Amade M'Charek
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Amsterdam (UvA), Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/14611-0 - "I wanna be a médico de postinho": connections and disputes between medical knowledge, anti-racist activism and the health of the black population, BP.DR

Abstract

This research internship project is part of the FAPESP-funded doctoral research that investigates the health of the Brazilian black population, specifically focusing on the process of materialization of race and its effects on health. By understanding that race materializes from its presences and absences, and it is shaped by multiple contextual relations, the main objective of this internship project is to deepen into theoretical and methodological discussions concerning the absent presence of race and its effects within medical knowledge, practice, and health policies. Methodologically, this will involve conducting a literature review, presenting and discussing ethnographic data previously collected with the supervisor's research group, and additionally, conducting open interviews with general practitioners. The immersive experience offered by the BEPE project will enhance the analysis of research conducted since early 2023, enabling illumination and contrasting with ethnographic data collected during fieldwork in Brazil, and facilitating the establishment of international research networks. As a result, the internship at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), under the supervision of Professor Amade M'Charek, who have been investigating the materialization of race in science and technology for over twenty years, will enhance engagement in theoretical and methodological discussions central to the ongoing ethnographic research.