Mulheres da Rede Fitovida: ervas medicinais, envelhecimento e associativismo

Abstract

In Rio de Janeiro State, there are one hundred and eight groups of women who produce medicines with herbs. Since 2000, they are organized in a network called Rede Fitovida to transmit their knowledge and debate how to deal with their common difficulties. It s a social movement without party or religion affiliation composed by old women from popular layers that get together at kitchens of communitarian centers. None of them receive money or any other kind of payment for their work. Their activity is volunteer and non- profitableThe objective of this ethnography is to analyze cultural aspects of a group that belongs to this network, such as healing practices and knowledge transmission. Through an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation  which allows a more careful look on the social phenomena  this research aims to understand who are those women, what they do and why. As part of a network of exchanges, besides taking care of their health and of their neighborhood s, these women create a social movement that demands the recognition for their traditional knowledge by the State. They also change their own perception of individuals in aging process, overcoming the negative elderly stigmas