Banca de DEFESA: ALANA BRAGA ALENCAR

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ALANA BRAGA ALENCAR
DATE: 13/08/2026
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Laboratório de Psicologia
TITLE:

FROM THE WOMB TO THE TERRITORY: TRADITIONAL MIDWIVES BETWEEN COMMUNITY CARE, NETWORKS OF WELL-BEING, AND RESISTANCE TO COLONIALISM

 

KEY WORDS:

Traditional midwives; Buen vivir; Coloniality; Decolonial feminisms.

PAGES: 264
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Psicologia
SUMMARY:

This thesis investigates the role of traditional midwives in the production of health, life, and resistance within their territories, problematizing their historical subalternization in relation to biomedical rationality and coloniality. It is grounded in the understanding that traditional midwifery constitutes a complex practice that articulates community, spiritual, affective, political, and ecological dimensions, and is fundamental to sustaining sociobiodiversity. The first study aimed to analyze the relationship between the Brazilian State and traditional midwives through a documentary analysis of laws, decrees, and public policies (1808–2022), guided by a constructionist discursive approach. The results revealed the persistence of hierarchical naming regimes—such as “lay,” “curious,” or “practical” midwives—that produce effects of subalternization, tutelage, and delegitimization of traditional knowledge. The second study sought to understand, based on the narratives of five midwives from different territories, how their modes of producing care, sustaining community networks, and resisting coloniality are structured. This is a qualitative, narrative, and relational study, inspired by the Indigenous Yarning methodology, involving narrative interviews and field diaries. The findings reveal traditional midwifery as an integral practice, marked by spirituality, ancestry, an ethics of care, and political action within territories. The theoretical-epistemological framework articulates critical Social Psychology, decolonial studies, and decolonial feminisms to understand the coloniality of power, knowledge, being, and gender. Knowledge is conceived as situated, relational, and shaped by historical disputes, affirming buen vivir as an ethical-political horizon. It is concluded that, despite epistemicide and institutional violence, traditional midwives continue to produce life and resistance, positioning themselves as central epistemic subjects in sustaining sociobiodiversity within their territories. The thesis points to the need for historical reparation, epistemic justice, institutional recognition, and the development of intercultural public policies that ensure autonomy and dignity for midwives.

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interna - 2086520 - CANDIDA MARIA BEZERRA DANTAS
Interno - 1744558 - JADER FERREIRA LEITE
Externo à Instituição - JAMES FERREIRA MOURA JUNIOR - UNILAB
Externa à Instituição - MARIA APARECIDA DE FRANCA GOMES - UnP
Externa à Instituição - MARIA DA GRAÇA SILVEIRA GOMES DA COSTA - UFSB
Externo à Instituição - SAULO LUDERS FERNANDES - UFAL