Authority, subjectivity and power: data devolution at a primary care unit in Guariroba (Ceilândia/Federal District/Brazil).

Abstract

Devolution, restitution or sharing can mean, within other possibilities, to offer products to participants of a research or an extension project. Far from a new practice in Anthropology, returning results is still unusual, little organized and valued. This paper presents and discusses a devolution experience by an extension project in Anthropology that was developed in a primary care unit in the outskirts of Distrito Federal (Brazil). Local reactions were very different from what was expected by the project's staff, but still permitted dialogue with the health professionals and, more important, deepened our knowledge about work relations in this health institution. Even though IRB approval has been granted, negotiations about starting and continuing academic projects have to be negotiated continuously. Subjectivity, power and authority permeate any anthropological initiative from its beginning and much after it supposedly has been concluded.