Health promotion practices as resistance and counter-conduct to neoliberal governmentality

Abstract

This article analyzes the discourses within Health Promotion (HP) practices in Primary Health Care (PHC) that constitute actions of resistance and counter-conduct to the neoliberal governmentality inscribed in these tools. Drawing upon descriptive and exploratory field research, together with a qualitative approach, we interviewed 23 PHC workers in a municipality in southern Brazil. The results point out possibilities to enhance HP in PHC: strengthening training activities within health units; problematizing Social Determinants of Health (SDH); methods to encourage participation; collectivization of health demands; appreciation and reinforcement of achievements and collective actions; recovery of the local community’s culture and habits; and HP advocacy in PHC.