Pesquisa IṢẸ́: contributions of afro-referenced Occupational Therapy in the processes of formation and restitution of black subjectivities

Abstract

Historically, in the Brazilian diaspora, training, professional practices, and the production of knowledge have not prioritized epistemologies, knowledge, and ancestral black practices, neglecting rights, singularities and needs inherent to black people. Statistically configured as the majority in Brazil, this population should be the target of political, academic, and practical actions that contemplate their unique ways of being in the world, reversing universal logics. This manuscript aims to present how the Iṣẹ́ Research: construction of clinical, cultural and educational approaches aimed at the black population, linked to the Lab-Iṣẹ́/UFRJ, has contributed to the processes of formation and restitution of black subjectivities in Brazil. The research method is qualitative with a cartographic approach. The proposal is to carry out the mapping of black theoretical and conceptual bases in scientific, clinical, cultural, and educational productions in undergraduate courses in the country. For this article, the focus was on the occupational therapy undergrad course at UFRJ, more specifically at Lab-Iṣẹ́, as it is the first occupational therapy laboratory in Brazil dedicated to the black population. In addition to the survey and analysis of theoretical and documentary materials, the narratives of the laboratory team made it possible to consider as a result how much afro-referenced occupational therapy has been an important construction leading to the processes of formation and subjectivation of black people involved in the actions of the Laboratory. It is hoped that this work will inspire the entire field for the reformulation of its whitened practices.