resumo
Propõe-se um arcabouço teórico-metodo-lógico, na vertente marxista de construção do conhecimento, para compreensão de valores sociais pela captação de repre-sentações coidianas. Pressupõe-se que a invesigação cieníica congrega diferentes instâncias: epistemológica, teórica e me-todológica, que coerentemente às demais instâncias propõem um conjunto de proce-dimentos e técnicas operacionais de apre-ensão e análise da realidade em estudo, expondo o objeto invesigado. O estudo de valores revela a essencialidade da forma -ção de juízos e escolhas; há valores que re -letem a ideologia dominante, perpassan -do todas as classes sociais, mas também há valores que reletem os interesses de classe, esses não são universais, são cons-ituídos nas relações e aividades sociais. Fundamentando-se na teoria marxista da consciência, as representações coidianas consituem formulações discursivas, opina -ivas ou de convicção, emiidas por sujeitos sobre sua realidade, mostrando-se coeren-te forma de compreensão e exposição de valores sociais: grupos focais mostram-se apropriados para apreender opiniões en-quanto entrevistas demonstram potencia -lidades para expor convicções.
descritores
Comunismo Valores sociais Pesquisa qualitaiva
Representations of everyday life: a proposal
for capturing social values from the Marxist
perspective of knowledge production
*T
heoreTical
S
TudieS
AbstrAct
We propose from the Marxist perspecive of the construcion of knowledge, a theo -reical and methodological framework for understanding social values by capturing everyday representaions. We assume that scieniic research brings together difer -ent dimensions: epistemological, theorei -cal and methodologi-cal that consistently to the other instances, proposes a set of operaing procedures and techniques for capturing and analyzing the reality under study in order to expose the invesigated object. The study of values reveals the es -seniality of the formaion of judgments and choices, there are values that relect the dominant ideology, spanning all social classes, but there are values that relect class interests, these are not universal, they are formed in relaionships and social aciviies. Basing on the Marxist theory of consciousness, representaions are discur -sive formulaions of everyday life – opinion or convicion - issued by subjects about their reality, being a coherent way of un -derstanding and exposure social values: focus groups show is suitable for grasping opinions while interviews show potenial to expose convicions.
descriptors
Communism Social values Qualitaive research
resumen
Se propone marco teórico-metodológico, en veriente marxista de producción de co -nocimiento, para comprensión de valores sociales por captación de representaciones coidianas. Se presupone que la invesiga -ción cieníica incluye instancias epistemo -lógicas, teóricas y metodológicas que, con -juntamente con otras instancias, proponen procedimientos y técnicas operaivas de aprendizaje y análisis de la realidad estu-diada exponiendo el objeto invesigado. El estudio revela la esencialidad de formación de juicios y elecciones; hay valores que re -lejan la ideología dominante, atravesando todas las clases sociales, pero también hay valores que relejan intereses de clase, esos no son universales, sino consituidos en las relaciones y acividades sociales. Fundamentándose en la teoría marxista de la consciencia, las representaciones co-idianas consituyen formulaciones discur -sivas, de opinión o de convicción, emiidas por sujetos sobre su realidad, consituyen -do una forma de comprensión y exposición de valores sociales: los grupos focales son apropiados para aprender opiniones mien-tras las entrevistas muestran potencialidad para exponer convicciones.
descriptores
Comunismo Valores sociales Invesigación cualitaiva
cássia baldini soares1, Vilmar ezequiel dos santos2, célia maria sivalli campos3, sheila Aparecida
Ferreira Lachtim4, Fernanda cristina campos5
RepResentações cotidianas: uma pRoposta de apReensão de valoRes sociais na veRtente maRxista de pRodução do conhecimento
RepResentaciones cotidianas: una pRopuesta de apRendizaje de valoRes sociales en la veRtiente maRxista de pRoducción del conocimiento
* extracted from the Research Group “Fortalecimento e desgaste no trabalho e na vida: Bases para a intervenção em saúde coletiva”, school of nursing, university of são paulo, 2011. 1associate professor of the collective health nursing department, school of nursing, university of são paulo. são paulo, sp,
Brazil. cassiaso@usp.br 2doctoral student of the collective health nursing department, school of nursing, university of são paulo. são paulo, sp, Brazil. 3ph.d. professor of collective health nursing department, school of nursing, university of são paulo. são paulo, sp, Brazil. 4master degree in sciences,
1752
Rev Esc Enferm USP 2011; 45(Esp. 2):1751-5 www.ee.usp.br/reeusp/Representations of everyday life: a proposal for capturing social values from the Marxist perspective of knowledge production
Soares CB, Santos VE, Campos CMS, Lachtim SAF, Campos FC
introduction
In this present study, scieniic invesigaion is as -sumed to comprise diferent scopes that should be co -herent among themselves: epistemological, concerning the understanding of knowledge producion; the theo -reical dimension, proposing an explaining theory for the phenomenon under study, acivaing analysis categories; and the methodological scope, proposing a combinaion of procedures and techniques for acquiring and analyz -ing the reality in this study, atemp-ing to expose the in -vesigated object and maintaining coherence with other scopes(1).
The objecive of this study is to propose a methodolog -ical-theoreical structure, under a Marxist scope of knowl -edge construcion, with the aim of understanding social values through the acquisiion of daily representaions. First, the implicaions for guiding this research towards a Marxist scope will be discussed, including dialecic and historic materialism; following, social values coherent with the same scope will be conceived in order to discuss their perinence in an efort to understand
them in terms of acquiring and analyzing daily representaions. Lastly, the potenial of two research qualitaive techniques for learning social values will be discussed.
The Marxist scope as an epistemological
basis for knowledge producion in the Collecive Health sector
The existence of a current and historic social reality, with an invesigaion process
consising of social pracice and performed by subjects who have values and make choices is acknowledged. Therefore, learning about reality is not performed through a neutral feature invesigaion. Knowledge is constructed according to possibiliies where reality must be learned, much of the ime by the leaders among the classes they dominate and those who are their subjects. The purpose of the invesigaion process is to produce knowledge from the uncovering of reality and criicism, inevitably guiding them towards the transformaion of the reality found(1).
Marxism has grown as a result of criicizing posiivism and quesioning prior scieniic conjectures in the search for truth – the regularity and linearity of social facts and the unrestricted adopion of natural sciences foundaions for studying the objects of social science. Hence, it gradu -ally appropriated categories of contradicion for the pur -pose of criicizing logical formalism, reducionism and a-historicity in acquiring the dynamics of social reality. The dialecic of Marxism seeks to freeze reality and criicism of epistemology, searching for the truth in laboratory repro -ducion with a bias control(1).
Adoping a dialecic perspecive analysis in a research does not mean abandoning raional reality acquisiion, performed from regular and fortuitous features in order to understand the reality being captured and analyzed(2). It regards a strict and ariculated process with the objec -ive of inding the meaning of the phenomenon studied in this research(1).
While we propose to discuss the connecions between the phenomenon in this research and the social totality through analysis categories, the Marxist dialecic looks to capture contradicions regarding the phenomenon in this research, exposing its essence and not just its appearance. The challenge lies in developing tools that can improve and beter explain the relaionships between the consi -tuted historical-social knowledge compound and the re -producion of subjects and groups’ social living rouines. When facing a research quesion in which the dominant explanaion generates litle or no saisfacion, a method -ological challenge is proposed, especially since there are many techniques that can be used that belong to difer -ent involved disciplinary ields and, therefore, must be re-ariculated within a new perspecive(3).
Collecive Health consitutes a knowl -edge and pracice ield that atempts to in -clude the Marxist approach to foundaions, primarily supported by Garcia’s(4) teach-ings, followed by many other scienists who constructed and coninue to construct this interdisciplinary ield(5). For this reason, a considerable part of the research developed by Collecive Health demonstrates a Marxist guideline of knowledge producion as refer -ence and coninues to accept the challenge to promote research that demonstrates co-herence with the epistemological, theoreical and meth -odological scopes(1).
Social values: theoreical dimension
Social values are understood in this research as being mediators of social awareness, the basis for choices and posiioning regarding the reality in which diferent social groups socialize. They are historically and socially con -structed and are the basis for social pracices, including choices made by real subjects in their rouine of living(6). They may be incorporated in the coninuous process of dominant ideology disseminaion, consituing dominant opinions that permeate all social classes, inluencing the choices in all groups. In addiion, they can represent con -vicions within social classes formulated from the real material condiions at work and in life. Therefore, social construcion contradicions generate the formulaion of criicisms(7).
These values are not purely mentally constructed on the part of individual subjects; instead, they exist within a certain ime and space and are consituted in social re
-marxism has grown as a result of criticizing
positivism and questioning prior
scientiic conjectures
laions that are established from a speciic mode of pro -ducion. Therefore, Marx postulated that value means the work incorporated and transigured into goods, and learn -ing the value can only be accomplished by an abstracion process requiring a theoreical efort through the dialecic method. In the scope of relaionship and social interac -ions, senses and percepions immediately perceive only the appearance of the goods, or in other words, its ex -pression as an exchange value and as something that
sat-isies all types of human needs, and its value of use(8).
Within this context, people interact mediated by con-sumpion and the need to exchange various goods. Ob -taining speciic products has become the reason for living in a society that values acquisiion accumulaion, appear -ance and the appear-ance of objects. Needs are also vitally connected to the metamorphic process of value, deter -mined by the producion system that has the objecive of achieving certain goods through the system of consump -ion and exchange. These transforming processes within capitalism signiicantly contribute to deining a private valuing system that marks new subjeciviies and impacts the way of life(8).
The intermediaion between awareness and social reality occurs through representaions we perceive re -garding objects and things. Things have a value accord -ing to what they represent and apparently are. Aware -ness is unable to comprehend or abstract what things really are regarding their funcion and consituion in the totality of social life. Therefore, people’s values can refer to something closer to their true reality of life in addiion to reproducing the dominant ideology in soci -ety. In other words, the awareness of social reality can be manifested as a narrow vision of things or can reveal contradicions that are present in social life. Hence, the producion of ideas, representaions and awareness are directly related to material life and condiioned to a de -termined development of producive forces and the way of corresponding relaionships(9).
Social values mostly correspond to economic values, consolidaing the modern ways of life, complete with values of compeiion, individualism and the accumula -ion of private assets. Within the modern context, the combinaion of values experienced by diferent social subjects and groups constructs modern capitalism(10), marking subjeciviies in a paricular way(11), therefore producing a speciic way of life(12).
These values can refer to both the reproducion of a dominant social patern (axiology) and a compound of val -ues with a view towards the emancipaion of men, means of oppression and social dominaion (axionomy). There is an established dialecic: on the one hand, the necessary
means of regulaing the maintenance of antagonisic re
-laions, which support social dominaion and exploraion
and, on the other hand, ways of resistance that have the objecive of transforming these relaions. Therefore, there
is a dominant valuing system presented as a dominant ideology (a false awareness of reality) and valuing systems connected to the interested subjects in the socially domi-nated and oppressed groups(7).
Daily representaions: methodological dimension of values acquisiion
This regards the methodological-theoreical construc -ion that evaluates the acriical and descripive readings of reality, ideniied by social representaions, which is a commonly used construcion in qualitaive researches, paricularly in the health sector, which is invariably discon -nected from the social totality percepion that is seen only as a background for the studied phenomena. From this concepion, social representaions approach translates into a naive concepion of daily knowledge, reproducing mistakes and procedures within the phenomenological perspecive of knowledge producion(12).
Based on Marx, according to Nildo Viana’s works, daily representaions consitute expressions of awareness indi -viduals acquire in social relaionships, which are subjected to the social division of work; in other words, if the in -dividual has limited relaionships due to his placement in society, his percepion regarding reality will also be lim -ited, which will result in him having a less false (or more accurate) percepion of reality(12).
Daily representaions are the vehicle that translates the features of daily life, which, in its turn, is reproduced when naturalized without deep relecion regarding the world or the reality surrounding people(12). Although daily life is diferent within each social class or group, it has a few common elements that are present in every social class; in other words, daily representaions express ways of class awareness, in addiion to presening a general
ele-ment that is present in every social class, since, despite all
social inserions, there is general sociability to all social
classes(12).
Daily representaions have a contradictory character within them, difereniaing them from formal logic. The author searches for logic to explain the internal coher
-ences of daily representaions. The disincion described
by Erich Fromm and Michael Maccoby between convic -ion and opin-ion is used to explain that daily representa -ions are consituted by a nucleus and by peripheral ele
-ments. The convicion is something profound, born from
1754
Rev Esc Enferm USP 2011; 45(Esp. 2):1751-5 www.ee.usp.br/reeusp/Representations of everyday life: a proposal for capturing social values from the Marxist perspective of knowledge production
Soares CB, Santos VE, Campos CMS, Lachtim SAF, Campos FC
The proposal of the acquisiion of values through daily representaions is based on the search for convicions and not merely opinion discourses(12).
Qualitaive techniques for the acquisiion of daily representaions: potenial features in exposing social values
In the present study, the presumpion that the opin -ions expressed by the subjects beter relected the domi -nant ideology was used as the underlying basis, while con -vicions had more potenial to expose social values that truly were the basis for guiding the subjects’ choices.
Daily representaions are defended here as being ac -quired by qualitaive research techniques. The focal group technique and the group interview were more likely to beter acquire opinions than the advanced interview tech -nique. Also, seing the subjects within the context of their private life has demonstrated more potenial in acquiring true convicions.
Hence, the compound analysis of contents in dis -courses acknowledging the subjects’ reality is a powerful instrument to idenify class values, as demonstrated by an empiric study with young subjects who acknowledged, from advanced interviews, the expression of diferent so -cial values coherent with diferent so-cial groups(14). The advanced interview is a technique that allows for the sub -jects to relect about their associaions, rebuilding them throughout the interview.
The focal group technique, although a powerful tool to approach qualitaive aspects of reality(15), exposes opin-ions, since it does not allow ample deepening of the sub -jects’ representaions in such a way as to extract convic -ions; in other words, it does not allow for verifying the reasons and way of life of the subjects within their historic vagaries (to invesigate why the subject has that opinion), permiing a link with the opinions broadly expressed within groups.
Under this perspecive, opinions relect and greatly reproduce society’s dominant ideology, opposing the true reality of diferent social groups, making it possible to evaluate the contradicions presented in discourses.
The analysis of contradicions presented in opinions may contribute to revealing the paricipants’ diiculies in face of the dominant ideology, naturalizing the ways of understanding social interacions and relaions, creat -ing a false or narrow awareness; at the same ime it can contribute to revealing criical aspects regarding the real condiions of social life.
By using the daily representaions theory we seek to overcome, in part, some methodology diiculies inher -ent in qualitaive research based on epistemology under the Marxist scope. In this case, the research is drawn by its methodological-theoreical combinaion, which is the basis for choosing and employing techniques and data collecion procedures that enable greater amplitude and coherence to the analysis.
The integral analysis of the subjects’ discourses would be important, with no cuts within linguisics or theme categories, to enable inding the subjects’ convicions possible, revealing their values and beliefs regarding the studied phenomenon.
concLusion
Under the Marxist scope of knowledge producion, which greatly supports the Collecive Health sector, the re -searchers consider that what is presented in reality is not natural, but is socially dependent on the society’s process stages of producion. Therefore, the phenomena studied by nursing in Collecive Health must be seen as regarding the current social educaion, with an eye to detecing the best mediators between the broader social structure and the phenomenon, or object of this study.
Producing knowledge within this scope means not only the acquisiion of reality in a descripive and factual way, but also analyzing it criically from its surroundings and determining context, since the phenomena analyzed here will not be understood if viewed alone, with no con -necions shown to the other phenomena involved. The social meaning acquired in reality must always be de -tailed by a theory that, in its turn, ofers an analysis cat -egory of the invesigated phenomenon. This presumpion indicates that researchers studying nursing in Collecive Health may suggest analysis categories that can beter explain the studied reality, and the following categories within this scope are fundamental: work, social class, val -ues, ideology and needs, among many others that com-pose the Marxist theory charts and that are employed in health studies.
reFerence
1. Salum MJL, Queiroz VM, Soares CB. Pesquisa social em saúde: lições gerais de metodologia - a elaboração do plano de pesquisa como momento paricular da trajetória teóri -co-metodológica [documento de Apoio Pedagógico para o Ensino e a Orientação de Pesquisadores Iniciantes ou Pós-Graduandos na Área de Enfermagem em Saúde Coleiva]. São Paulo: EEUSP; 1999.
2. Mendes-Gonçalves RB. Tecnologia e organização social das práicas de saúde: caracterísicas tecnológicas de processo de trabalho na Rede Estadual de Centros de Saúde de São Paulo. Rio de Janeiro: ABRASCO; 1994.
3. Laurell AC, Noriega M. Processo de produção e saúde: trab -alho e desgaste operário. São Paulo: Hucitec; 1989.
4. Garcia JC. Medicina e sociedade: as correntes de pensam -ento no campo da saúde. In: Nunes ED, Donnângelo MCF, organizadores. Medicina social: aspectos históricos e teóri -cos. São Paulo: Global; 1983.
5. Paim JS, Almeida Filho N. Saúde coleiva: uma “nova saúde pública” um campo aberto para novos paradigmas? Rev Saúde Pública. 1998;34( 4):299-316.
6. Soares CB. Consumo contemporâneo de drogas e juven -tude: a construção do objeto na perspeciva da Saúde Cole -iva [tese livre-docência]. São Paulo: Escola de Enfermagem; Universidade de São Paulo; 2007.
7. Viana N. Os valores na sociedade moderna. Brasília: Thesaurus; 2007.
8. Marx K. O capital: críica da economia políica. Volume I: o processo de produção do capital. Trad. de Regis Barbosa e Flávio R. Gothe. São Paulo: Nova Cultural; 1996.
9. Marx K, Engels F. A ideologia Alemã. São Paulo: Rocket; 1999.
10. Wood EM. O que é a agenda “pós-moderna”? In: Wood EM, Foster JB, organizadores. Em defesa da história: marxismo e pós-modernismo. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar; 1999.
11. Birman J. Arquivos do mal-estar e da resistência. Rio de Ja -neiro: Civilização Brasileira; 2006.
12. Viana N. Senso comum, representações sociais e represen -tações coidianas. Bauru: EDUSC; 2008.
13. Peixoto MA. As representações coidianas do trabalho do -mésico. In: Marins DC, Matos IM, Soares MV, organiza -dores. Região e poder. Goiânia: Ed. PUC; 2010.
14. Lachim SAF. Jovens de Santo André, SP, Brasil: um estudo sobre valores em diferentes grupos sociais [dissertação]. São Paulo: Escola de Enfermagem; Universidade de São Paulo; 2010.
