The Know-How of Caring in Mbya Guaraní Communities of Alto Paraná (Misiones, Argentina)

Abstract

In this paper, we revisit some of the current debates on care for the sustenance of life as posed in both social and academic agendas. The ways of caring can be analyzed by problematizing how practices, knowledge, and meanings come into play in social interactions. In each context, identity affiliations shape dynamics, negotiations, agreements, and resistances in the know-how of caring. Our aim is to address health care practices within Mbya Guaraní communities of Alto Paraná, in relation to the forms of recognition of differences that influence the ways in which situations of suffering are faced. We focus on the ways in which “being Indigenous” is recreated in the sustainability of life, where networks and spaces of care (family, health, community, etc.) intersect in contexts of social segregation. We consider it important to revisit the analysis of care dynamics in a broad sense, accounting for the integrality of the dimensions that constitute well-being. In this direction, we bring into dialogue our fieldwork carried out during the post-pandemic period, which allows us to identify the specificities of health care in interethnic contexts where Mbya identity is constantly rearticulated.