Ethnographic approach and social intervention in the production and use of images: interview with José Roberto Novaes (Beto Novaes)

Author(s)

José Roberto Pereira Novaes ^[1] ; José Marçal Jackson Filho ^[2] ; Angela Paula Simonelli ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Economia - Brasil

^[2] Fundação Jorge Duprat Figueiredo de Segurança e Medicina do Trabalho. Centro Estadual do Paraná - Brasil

^[3] Universidade Federal do Paraná - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional; v. 44, 2019-05-09.

Abstract

Abstract Beto Novaes is a retired professor of the Institute of Economics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he coordinates the ‘Education through Images’ project. Since the mid-seventies, he has undertaken research and extension activities based on the use of images about work and workers, mostly in the rural sector. Images are the means used to bring research and academic knowledge closer to society, disrupting the hierarchy of knowledge in which academic knowledge is normally considered superior. His productions arise from social demands to deal with problems of little visibility such as: the exploitation of labor and migrations in the rural domain, child and female labor, workers’ resistance, agroecology and confrontation with pesticides use. Through his ethnographic approach, he acts against the exercise of domination through workers’ narratives, ‘giving voice to those who have no voice’, and designing ways of confronting with and changing reality. His documentaries express teachings in the art of ethnography and in the practice of intervention, not only with a view to change social reality, but also to influence academic praxis. His films are also artistic pieces where beauty coexists with sensitivity, generosity, commitment and hope. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/04721-1 - Work accident: from sociotechnical analysis towards social construction of changes
• Grantee: Rodolfo Andrade de Gouveia Vilela
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants