Ricardo Bruno: history, social processes and health practices

Abstract

This essay has the objective of revisiting the intellectual output of Ricardo Bruno Mendes-Gonçalves (1946-1996), Professor of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo and one of the theoreticians who participated in the construction of the field of Brazilian Collective Health during the years 1970-1990. On the basis of brief biographical and bibliographical information, as well as relevant aspects regarding the historical context in which his output is located, I examine the principal works of the author, their effects on the lines of investigation of investigation of his students and his legacy of contributions and challenges for Collective Health. I highlight the genesis and development of his Theory of the Health Work Process and its impact on the understanding and empirical investigation of the socio-historical dimensions of health practices and on the reconstruction of knowledge and technologies in the context of the Brazilian Health Sector Reform. In particular, I highlight his concern with the ethical perspective of academic praxis and in this sense, with hope as a human value which is historically objectified and intersubjectively constructed.