Assumindo o controle. Organizações, práticas e a experiência de si em trabalhadores da Redução de Danos na região metropolitana de Porto Alegre

This study aims mainly at investigating the discursive net and the truth games that are present in Harm Reduction (HR) sites and their effects on HR insertion in the Health System, on work organization and practices, and on workers’ subjectivity. Eleven programs/actions in HR were analyzed in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre (MAPA) and 36 HR workers were interviewed, among programs/actions coordinators, outreach workers and representatives from a national outreach workers association and a State HR reference center. Departing from the genealogic perspective of Michel Foucault, it was possible to discuss the competing rationalities present in the discourse on illegal drugs and their overlapping, as well as the relation between civil society and the State, the characteristic of the borders between Public and Private, the rationales considered important in order to be an outreach worker, the distinction between outreach workers and technicians, outreach workers’ professionalization, voluntary work and militancy, and, finally, work precariousness in all its communications with previous overlapping. The analysis shows workers’ perception of the lack of political, financial and administrative support from the State and part of the community and, moreover, the recognition on the side of the assisted public. This last aspect appears to be the main driver for the continuity of the work. Finally, the study highlights the importance of creating integrated spaces for reflection and discussion, which could contribute to workers’ health and collective organization. It is also necessary to rescue the role of social control, in the sense of negotiating with the State about several forms of support, and achieving sustainable actions and more stable conditions for outreach workers.