Who takes care of the caregivers?

Cosmetics production workshop for the promotion of collective care with the Women's Group of the Center for Integration in Serra da Misericórdia (CEM)

Abstract

Communication between universities and local communities is often hierarchical and extractive. In this study, we present an account of the communicative encounter in Serra da Misericórdia with the women of the Center for Integration, where we came together to propose a day of reflection with the women who live and build resistance in the territory. Together, we formulated the question: “Who takes care of the caregivers?”. This study presents an account of our mutual care for a collective construction of knowledge and the encounters between the knowledge of postgraduate students from the NUTES Institute of Education in Science and Health, from different fields, and intellectual women of the territory. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from black feminist epistemology, we focused on the ethics of care to produce formative encounters that didn't end in one day but extended into ongoing connections between participants, fostering a shared and integrative practice aimed at working “with”. The use of the round table in this process was essential to strengthen the academic training of the authors, to enable critical reflection on their own practices, to broaden the understanding of the knowledge present in the territory and strengthen the commitment to a more dialogical and transformative education.