Microarticulations: an ethnography on the Congenital Zika Syndrome and its articulations in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Network; Disability; Childhood; State; Ethnography
Above all, this is a dissertation on conexions and articulations. More specifically, conexions and articulations created and made by and around the Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), a congenital alteration caused by the exposure in utero to the Zika Virus (ZIKV). Intending to look beyond the biomedical definition, this work wishes to trace how the CZS gained form, solidity and materiality in the lives of the actors involved in its management, a process in which a series of distinct interactions have arisen. The thought is to let the connexions and articulations concerning the syndrome guide the research, in an attempt to register engagements and participations that are usually silenced. Due to the limits of this dissertation, I chose to follow the syndrome paths referenced by three themes that were brought up a lot during fieldwork done with families implicated in the ZIKV epidemics in Rio Grande Do Norte, which are: child-development and disability; the participation of other children caring for the child diagnosed with the CZS; and the relation between the families and the State. By telling stories, registering participations and showing connections of these three aspects, this work hopes, most of all, to communicate needs and demands of the families.