Dynamics between potential for strengthening and weakening in the lives of public-school youth: action research with emancipatory workshops

Abstract

This action research analyzes the dynamics between the potential for strengthening and wear-and-tear inherent to the social reproduction of youth. Based on the historical-dialectical materialism, particularly on the Theory of Social Determination of Health, the analysis considered the universal, particular and singular dimensions of social totality. The study was developed in 13 emancipatory workshops, during a five-month period, attended by 12 high school students from a public school in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The conditions of social reproduction exposed the participants’ family configurations, which suffer from precarious work and unemployment, the absence or inconsistency of paternal support, and a precarious process of re-socialization and sociability. The youth discussed insecurities and difficulties they face in the territories where they live, family conflicts, the repercussions of social pressures to face the future, the place of school and family in their lives, and doubts regarding sexuality and drug use. The emancipatory action research allowed the participants to go beyond appearance, and revealed the essence of their reality, showing that emancipation is based on the understanding of the singular, particular, and universal dimensions of social relations.