On May 27th, Tuesday, anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher in Public Health at the Institute of Social Medicine Romário Nelvo (PDSE/CAPES, IMS/UERJ) will present the open lecture “Wave Fragments: Pleasures, Risks, and Differentiations in Drug Use Scenes,” at 2:00 p.m., in the auditorium of the Institute of Social Medicine at UERJ (6th floor, Block E, Room 6012).
The CLAM Seminars, promoted by the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM/IMS/UERJ), aim to bring together students, researchers, and other interested parties in the fields of gender, sexuality, and human rights, serving as a space for academic development and knowledge exchange. The activities are in-person, open to the public, and do not require prior registration.
Learn more about researcher Romário Nelvo’s presentation:
Abstract:
In this talk, I present part of an ethnographic doctoral research project on the Brazilian policy of risk and harm reduction (RD) in event contexts. Over two and a half years of fieldwork with collectives involved in public drug advocacy and anti-prohibitionist activism, I followed how care actions related to the use of alcohol and other drugs – especially synthetic and psychedelic substances – are constructed in party environments and electronic music festivals of the psytrance genre. Here, I focus on drug use scenes mapped through observations, dialogues, and narratives obtained in conversation with event attendees who used RD spaces. The aim is to describe how they navigate forms of pleasure, risk, and differentiation while seeking a sensory, emotional, and political-moral ecstasy in surrendering to the celebration during festival days. I examine how harm reduction agents technically guide ways of mitigating risks and harms associated with substance use, and how users develop their own techniques and notions of self-care.
Suggested readings:
Nelvo, Romário. Apologia ao Cuidado: Uma etnografia sobre Redução de Riscos e Danos em eventos (introduction pp. 25–71). Graduate Program in Social Anthropology, National Museum (Dissertation), UFRJ, 2024.
Available at: https://www.academia.edu/127239247/APOLOGIA_AO_CUIDADO_Uma_etnografia_sobre_Redu%C3%A7%C3%A3o_de_Riscos_e_Danos_em_eventos?auto=download
VARGAS, Eduardo. Uso de drogas e alter-ação como evento. São Paulo: Revista de Antropologia, v. 49, n. 2, 2006.
Available at: https://www.scielo.br/j/ra/a/7dqNhphSrvyCnX3KZw7xvKF/?format=pdf&lang=pt
Address: Institute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de Janeiro (IMS/UERJ). Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã. ZIP – 20550-013 – Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brazil.
Email – contatoclam@gmail.com
