Mindfulness, Buddhism and Mental Health: processes of compatibilization, legitimation, and subjectivation in Brazil and the United Kingdom

• Grant number: 25/17064-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2026
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Christiano Key Tambascia
• Grantee: Giovanna Paccillo dos Santos
• Supervisor: Prof Joanna Cook
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University College London (UCL), England
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/16300-2 - The legitimization process of mindfulness as a therapeutic practice in the psychology field, BP.DR

Abstract

This project proposes a research internship at University College London (UCL), from October 2026 to March 2027, under the supervision of Professor Joanna Cook, an international reference in anthropological studies on mindfulness, mental health, and Buddhism. The proposal is part of my doctoral project in Social Anthropology at State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), which investigates the legitimation processes of mindfulness as a therapeutic practice in mental health in Brazil. Inspired by the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the USA, mindfulness has been progressively incorporated into clinical protocols such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), adopted by the UK National Health Service (NHS). In Brazil, its diffusion over the past decades has been driven by training centers, public policies, and growing academic interest.The experience in London will allow for a deeper dialogue between the ethnographic data produced in Brazil and international debates, especially in the UK, where Cook has analyzed the implications of the institutionalization of mindfulness in broader processes of governmentality, medicalization, and subjectivation. I also intend to engage with literature on ethics and moralities. Beyond the dialogue established with Professor Cook, participation in her research group at UCL, in university seminars, and European conferences will directly contribute to the theoretical consolidation of my dissertation and the internationalization of Brazilian research.1 (AU)