Beyond “Anecdotes”: ethnographic insights for health research in Angola

Abstract

This article reports experiences I had as a Brazilian researcher training in Anthropology during fieldwork in Angola, in the early 2010s, and reflects on the challenges of ethnographic research in contexts of international cooperation. I present the political scenario at the time for Brazil-African continent relations, which allowed the insertion in the field as a service provider for epidemiological research on HIV/AIDS, funding by an international agency and and conducted by a Brazilian team . The research took place in the province of Cunene, a border region with Namibia, marked by intense mobility of people between countries and stigmatization of women who have lived longer in Namibia, often associated with prostitution and the spread of HIV. I report the difficulties in reconciling funders’ demands for “target populations” and “specific variables” with the complexity of the social reality observed, which challenged pre-established categories and highlighted widespread vulnerability to the epidemic. I highlight tensions between different actors involved in international cooperation, accenting the hierarchization of knowledge and a certain devaluation of qualitative data and the anthropological perspective, considered “anecdotal” by funders. I question the imposition of external agendas and the reification of stereotypes to the detriment of understanding local social dynamics. Finally, I reflect on intersections present during the research, such as gender, race and nationality, and how these influenced interactions in the field. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of anthropology in the production of critical and situated knowledge, capable of questioning asymmetries of power and contributing to mitigating processes of injustice and silencing.