Social determination of health and artisanal fishing: the community of Ilha de Deus facing the climate crisis

a comunidade da Ilha de Deus frente à crise climática

Abstract

Abstract

The study starts from the analysis of the work process in artisanal fishing as an expression of the structural contradictions that mark Brazilian social formation. This activity, historically invisibilized and essential for the reproduction of life in traditional territories, evidences how the health of these populations is linked to the unequal relations of capitalist production, which subordinate labour and nature to the logic of capital. Precariousness, the expropriation of the means of subsistence and environmental degradation configure dimensions of the same process of exploitation that crosses the working classes in the country. It is in this context that the fishing community of Ilha de Deus, in Recife, is inserted, whose reality synthesises the historical contradictions and the forms of resistance present in the world of artisanal fishing work. The territory, recognised as a Special Zone of Social Interest (ZEIS), is at the same time a source of livelihood and a space of struggle for women of artisanal fishing, predominantly Black, who face exhausting work days, labour precariousness, exclusion from public policies and devaluation of their knowledge. The climate crisis manifests in the daily life of the community through extreme heat and water pollution, affecting food production, income and health. At the same time, these populations play a central role in the protection of ecosystems, preserving rivers, mangroves and local species, which shows that the impacts of the climate crisis are linked to environmental degradation, and that the sustainability of the territory depends on the practices of care and resistance built by the community. The investigation, of qualitative approach and grounded in participatory research, was developed with women of the community through workshops built in conversational circles and culture circles aimed at health promotion. Inspired by Paulo Freire’s pedagogy, these activities sought to create spaces for dialogue, listening and reflection on working conditions. Over the years 2024 and 2025, several circles and workshops were held with the women of the Island. For this study, five meetings were analysed, with an average duration of two hours, in which central themes such as work, food, race, gender, non-violent communication and climate were discussed. The discussions were recorded in a field diary and subsequently systematised, constituting the corpus of the analysis. The research is linked to the umbrella project approved by the Research Ethics Committee with Human Beings of the Instituto Aggeu Magalhães – IAM, under number CAAE 25398119.9.0000.5190, respecting all ethical principles of confidentiality and consent. The analysis of the circles reveals how the process of falling ill is deeply linked to the work process and the way life is sustained. The women reported physical and emotional fatigue in the face of the overload of domestic and productive tasks, income instability and uncertainty in the face of climate change. The pollution coming from large enterprises erected near the community amplified problems such as extreme heat, water-transmitted diseases and fish stock reduction. These are signs of a system that, by concentrating wealth, disseminates inequality, exhausts nature and sickens those who depend on it to live. The social determination of health reveals itself in the weavings of living, where work and resistance cross. The women show that health is more than not falling ill: it is to insist on life, to re-create it every day, even amid the conditions that try to destroy them. Understanding the health of women artisanal fishworkers is to recognise the body and the territory as fields of dispute. The reports of the women of Ilha de Deus reveal that care, work and solidarity are also practices of social transformation and resistance. In the community, there are two community gardens maintained by these populations, who also fish, plant, protect the mangroves, care for the waters and preserve sustainable practices grounded in ancestral knowledge and historical resistances. Among their achievements, the construction of the “Vitória das Mulheres” Bridge stands out, result of the mobilisation and struggle of the women of the Island, which ensured better access and recognition of the territory. By narrating their experiences, they produce knowledge and point out paths to reconstruct health as a field of struggle for the reproduction of life and the overcoming of the conditions that threaten it. The study also highlights the importance of a deeper look at the expressions of the racial issue and the climate crisis in the process of social determination of health of women workers in artisanal fishing. The reports of the meetings reveal that the territory of artisanal fishing, historically known as “Ilha sem Deus”, is marked by structural violences related to the exploitation of labour and natural resources. These conditions, produced by the capitalist mode of production, directly impact the health and social reproduction of the community. By giving centrality to the experiences of the women of Ilha de Deus, the research indicates that, although public policies are important, it is necessary to go beyond, articulating local knowledges and transformation of working conditions to face the impacts of capitalist logic on the health of this population. For researchers interested in the topic, the importance of participatory methodologies, of dialogue and collectivity with communities and of analyses that integrate political economy, territory and care as fundamental dimensions of the social determination of health is emphasised.