posted on 2023-06-09, 06:45authored byAndrea Cornwall
Narratives of civil society participation often paint an overly rosy picture of engaged citizens enlivening democratic deliberation and democratizing decision-making. In this chapter, I draw on ethnographic research in a “new democratic space” in north-eastern Brazil to explore the politics of institutionalized civil society participation in health governance. Told in three instalments, this chapter traces the biography of a participatory health council through different periods of membership, leadership and local government administrations. In doing so, I juxtapose the normative assumptions of narratives of civil society with the politics and dynamics of participation in this particular political, cultural and social context.
History
Publication status
Published
File Version
Submitted version
Publisher
Duke University Press
Page range
63-80
Pages
386.0
Book title
Beyond civil society: activism, participation, and protest in Latin America
Place of publication
USA
ISBN
9780822363071
Department affiliated with
Anthropology Publications
Full text available
No
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Editors
Millie Thayer, Jeffrey W Rubin, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Agustín Laó-Montes, Sonia E Alvarez