Ceramic technology of the Asurini do Xingu, Brazil: An ethnoarchaeological study of artifact variability

This article presents some of the results of ethnoarchaeological research on ceramic technology I have conducted among the Asurini do Xingu, an Amazonian indigenous population inhabiting a village in the margins of the Xingu River, Para, Brazil. Based on collected data, presented throughout the article, I discuss the reasons behind the formal, quantitative, spatial and relational variability of the Asurini ceramic vessels. This work will demonstrate that these distinct dimensions of variability are related to the potters` technological choices during the vessels` production process, the ceramic teaching-learning structure, and the type, frequency, method and context of use of the same vessels. I try to make clear the different practical and symbolic aspects that may influence the production, use, reuse, storage and discard processes of the vessels. Furthermore, I compare the Asurini context with other ethnographic contexts and try to distinguish regularities that may serve as interpretative references to the study of archaeological ceramic assemblages.

Etnografia de arquivos: entre o passado e o presente

O ensaio trata da metodologia de estudo de arquivos documentais gerados na modernidade como forma de entender a relação que se estabelecia entre Estado e sociedade. A partir de pesquisas desenvolvidas junto ao Arquivo Miroel Silveira da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, composto de processos de censura prévia ao teatro em São Paulo de 1930 a 1970, procura explicitar o método etnográfico como meio de interpretar as informações e as relações entre as partes envolvidas. A etnografia possibilita ainda estabelecer uma ponte entre o passado e a atualidade, época marcada pela proliferação de arquivos públicos e privados.

Criança dependente de tecnologia: a experiência do cuidado materno

Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender a experiência materna no cuidado ao filho dependente de tecnologia. Utilizamos a abordagem do estudo de caso etnográfico tendo como instrumentos de coleta de dados os genograma e ecomapa, entrevista aberta e observação. Os dados foram organizados em três unidades de significados: a busca pelas causas e por culpados; a alta hospitalar e as demandas para o cuidado e as redes de apoio. O estudo permitiu conhecer a experiência materna em busca por explicações, bem como os sentimentos de desconfiança, insegurança e insatisfação relacionados ao serviço de saúde. Ainda a apropriação da mãe em relação aos cuidados à criança e no que se refere à organização do ambiente domiciliar para recebê-la, a utilização das redes de apoio, destacando a carência de vínculos com familiares e vizinhos e a busca formal e informal para garantir a subsistência da criança doente e dos demais filhos.

Local Knowedge and Citizenship: the communitarian health agents

Discussions about the new meaning of citizenship, valuing differences and respecting knowledge diversity bring the question of how public policies can be locally rooted to ensure access to diversity. This is evident when we deal with health policies, where the interaction between implementers and beneficiaries is essential to understand the results of the policy. The Family Health Program (FHP) has tried to change the relationship between state and society, bringing health professionals with the daily experienced by the users where there is (re) production of the components that lead to insecurity, poor health and disease. To analyse this kind of policy we must take into account the interaction processes and the practices of the actors involved in the FHP implementation. This article aims to analyze the role of Health Communitarian Agents (HCA) as FHP implementers. Through ethnographic research followed the practices of ACS in different cities, we seek to understand how they deal with their different knowledge, enable and disable referrals and adapt action to enact the program. We want to understand how they use mediations and interactions in their practices and built policies locally rooted, constructing alternative ways to implement these policies.

The Effects of Processing Non-Timber Forest Products and Trade Partnerships on People's Well-Being and Forest Conservation in Amazonian Societies

This study evaluated whether processing non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and establishing trade partnerships between forest communities and companies enhance the outcomes of NTFP commercialization. In particular, we evaluated whether product processing, partnerships, or their combination was associated with a number of outcomes related to the well-being of forest inhabitants and forest conservation. We based our analyses on ethnographic and quantitative data (i.e., survey and systematic observations) gathered at seven communities from five societies of the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazon. Our results indicated that product processing and partnerships do not represent a silver bullet able to improve the results of NTFP commercialization in terms of well-being and conservation indicators. Compared with cases without interventions, households adopting partnerships but not product processing were most often associated with improved economic proxies of well-being (total income, NTFP income, food consumption and gender equality in income). In comparison, the combination of product processing and partnerships was associated with similar outcomes. Unexpectedly, product processing alone was associated with negative outcomes in the economic indicators of well-being. All of the investigated strategies were associated with less time spent in social and cultural activities. With respect to forest conservation, the strategies that included a partnership with or without processing produced similar results: while household deforestation tended to decrease, the hunting impact increased. Processing alone was also associated with higher levels of hunting, though it did not reduce deforestation. Our results indicate that establishing partnerships may enhance the outcomes of NTFP trade in terms of the financial outcomes of local communities, but practitioners need to use caution when adopting the processing strategy and they need to evaluate potential negative results for indicators of social and cultural activities. With respect to conservation, the three strategies are promising for reducing deforestation, but more pervasive impacts, such as hunting, might increase.

ADOPTING LEED CERTIFICATION IN LODGING FACILITIES: GREENING THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The research intended to analyze the adoption process of the green certification "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (LEED) from the hotel sector establishments that has already adopted it. For its concretization it was proceeded a bibliographical research, secondary fact-gathering in journals, institutional sites and documentaries, and primary fact-gathering by means of semi structured interviews carried out with responsible people of the certified hotels and of the responsible entity of the certification in Brazil (Green Building Council Brazil). There were 21 interviewee, being 02 of the GBC Brazil and 19 of means of lodging (31% of the certified). For data analysis, it was utilized content analysis technique with the aid of ATLAS.ti software. The results permitted to identify the chronology of the processes of certification and the profile of the hotel categories that adopt the LEED program. Beyond that, the interviews enabled the discussion of the initial motivations for seeking the certification, as well the advantages and the obstacles perceived regarding its adoption.

Body and sexuality during pregnancy

The objective of this ethnographic study was to understand how women experience their body's physiological processes during pregnancy and their effects on sexuality. The study involved seven women living in a poor neighborhood in Sao Paulo. Data collection was performed through participant observation and interviews using guiding questions. The data were presented in the narrative form and then organized into the following categories: realizing the changes in the body; living with the changes in the body; and feelings and sensations experienced in sexual life during pregnancy and imagining the body after pregnancy. The women referred to the changes in their bodies as discomforts, and expressed their concern that these changes would be permanent. They expressed they hoped that, after childbirth, their body would go back to what it was like before pregnancy and that they would recover their sexual desire. Recognition of these concerns is an essential tool to guarantee appropriate professional practices.

The standpoint of professionals on the presence and demands of men on the healthcare services: perspectives for the analysis of the implementation of the Comprehensive Healthcare Policy for Men

In 2009, the Brazilian Comprehensive Healthcare Policy for Men (PNAISH) was launched in Brazil, seeking to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population group. This article strives to analyze the conceptions that health professionals have about the specific demands and behaviors of the male population served by the healthcare services. The data analyzed are part of a larger research project, the objective of which was to evaluate the initial actions of the implementation of PNAISH. Ethnographic observations in 11 health services and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 health professionals. From the perspective of health professionals, the presence of men in the healthcare services is still limited. According to them, it is comprised of two types of clients: workers and the elderly. The male behavior characteristics - haste, objectivity, fear and resistance - and the difficulty faced by health services in receiving this population are the main factors that drive men away from health services. Although the concept of gender is central to PNAISH, it is only triggered by healthcare professionals in order to justify the social standards expected in terms of men's behavior. The attribution of men's behavior to cultural factors ultimately obscures the relations of power that underlie gender relations.

Hunting practices among the Awá-Guajá: towards a long-term analysis of sustainability in an Amazonian indigenous community

Indigenous Reserves have played an indispensable role in maintaining forest areas in the Neotropics. In the Amazon there is a clear correlation between these reserves and the presence of forest cover; however, the simple presence of uninterrupted vegetation is no guarantee for the conservation of biodiversity, especially where hunting is practiced. This study describes hunting practices among the Awá-Guajá people from 1993 through 1994, also identifying sociocultural, technological, and demographic changes that have influenced their resource acquisition strategies over the last two decades. The data was obtained through ethnographic fieldwork, recording 78 days of foraging returns, with follow-up visits through 2010. This work provides useful information for an effective diachronic analysis of hunting in this community, by revealing foraging patterns of the early to mid-1990s, and describing community transformations over the last two decades in this locale.