Redes formais e informais : o circuito de cuidados na comunidade do Timbó, João Pessoa/PB.

Abstract

This Undergraduate Thesis aims to map and analyze the care circuits existing in the Timbó community, located in the Bancários neighborhood of João Pessoa (PB), based on the articulation between formal and informal networks that structure the daily lives of the women interlocutors. It starts from the understanding that care, as a social practice, is not limited to the domestic sphere but involves relations of power, gender, and sociability, requiring an ethnographic approach attentive to the sensitivities and bonds built through life experiences. The research seeks to understand how these care networks are configured and what implications they have for the sexual division of labor, the overburdening of women, and social reproduction in peripheral contexts. To this end, the formal services and facilities in health, education, and social assistance present in the territory were mapped and articulated with informal support practices, such as “help” from neighbors, relatives, and friends, which play a central role in sustaining everyday life. Methodologically, the investigation relied on a qualitative approach inspired by urban anthropology, using participant observation and semi-structured interviews. This strategy allowed for capturing both the objective dimensions of service provision and the subjective perceptions of the interlocutors, highlighting the ways they develop collective strategies in response to precarious conditions. In this sense, the analysis dialogues with studies that show the centrality of care as a practice shaped by inequalities, but also as a space for agency and meaning-making. The results indicate that, although formal care facilities are available in the neighborhood, access is often limited by territorial and socioeconomic barriers, reinforcing dependence on informal networks. These networks, while overburdening women, function as mechanisms of solidarity and resistance, strengthening community ties and reaffirming the importance of cooperation. This dynamic is connected to the history and forms of sociability of Timbó, marked by external stigmas but also by internal organizational practices that reshape daily life and affirm local identities. In conclusion, the care circuits of the Timbó community reveal both the limitations of social policies aimed at peripheral populations and the power of community practices in sustaining life. By articulating the formal and informal, care emerges as a field of contestation that intersects gender, class, and territory. In this process, women play a fundamental role, reaffirming their centrality in social reproduction and pointing to the need for more inclusive policies sensitive to local specificities.