Public Health and Critical Ethnographies

Abstract

This article analyzes characteristic elements of public health as a disciplinary field in contrast to critical ethnography. We carry out an exploratory, integrative review between 2010 and 2020 in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Health and social science databases were used, finding 620 relevant references, of which 64 were studied. The descriptors were ethnography, health, public health, social anthropology, and critical thinking. The articles were classified according to discipline and country of origin. Subsequently, we discuss the presence of ethnography in various public health works, the history of ethnographies, their diverse applications as methods, focus, social impact, and emancipation tools to demonstrate the existence of ethnographies. In conclusion, the main meeting points identified between public health and critical ethnographies were the visibility of researchers/professionals as subjects with whom research is conducted, the multidimensionality of the phenomena addressed, the recognition of issues that involve power tensions, the questioning of other knowledge, and the intention to carry out actions for communities to access health care.