Collective action and public policies: peasant women in the construction of the Health Policy of the Populations of the Countryside, the Forest and the Waters

Abstract

This article analyses the performance of the Peasant Women's Movement (MMC) in the process of constructing the National Policy for Integral Health of the Populations of the Countryside, Forest, and Waters (PNSIPCFA). It is configured as a qualitative study, based on the recognition and appreciation of the collective actions of this social group in the area of ​​public health. The techniques of data collection consisted of the accomplishment of participant observation, exploratory interview, and focal group. Based on the empirical findings and the concept of collective action in Alberto Melucci, it is considered that the actions of social movements influence the construction of public policy and the production of social reality, as the results highlight the role of the MMC in representative spaces of planning, elaboration, and evaluation of public policies, such as the Earth Group, the monitoring and evaluation observatory of the referred policy, and the municipal councils of health. The MMC carries out actions of confrontation, resistance, and pressure in the State through marches, walks, and public acts, in partnership with other organizations, in defense of public health and the implementation of PNSIPCFA. It is also a protagonist in what concerns training/capacity building actions with the Movement for the dissemination and understanding of the content of the policy.