Cultivo urbano de ervas medicinais por mulheres: saberes populares numa perspectiva crítica

Abstract

In contemporary cities marked by structural inequalities, popular care practices such as the cultivation of medicinal herbs remain invisible and devalued by hegemonic discourses on urban development. These practices, often led by women, represent forms of resistance, the transmission of ancestral knowledge, and the construction of community-based support and belonging networks. Within this context, the research investigates how the urban cultivation of medicinal herbs by women can be understood as a practice of resistance, care, and the construction of more just and sustainable cities. Based on a qualitative approach, grounded in the historical-dialectical materialist method and an intersectional ecofeminist perspective, the dissertation is structured as a multipaper format and includes five scientific articles. The theoretical-methodological framework incorporates feminist epistemologies, political ecology, urban sustainability, and traditional knowledge, articulating concepts such as care, territory, orality, and praxis. A bibliographic analysis was complemented by an initial empirical stage, in which interviews were conducted with women from an urban occupation. Their narratives resulted in one of the articles presented in the dissertation. The findings reveal that the cultivation of medicinal herbs by urban women reflects not only strategies of survival but also ancestral knowledge, community organization, and a critique of the hegemonic model of urban development. As an educational and technical product, a booklet composed of cordel poems about medicinal herbs and care practices was developed, aimed at promoting critical environmental education in elementary schools. This production, inspired by popular orality and the artistic languages of Northeastern Brazilian culture, seeks to value traditional knowledge, foster environmental literacy, and stimulate student protagonism from a decolonial and emancipatory perspective. The study concludes that strengthening such experiences requires recognizing their contributions to urban sustainability and valuing popular voices and knowledge in academic and institutional spaces.