Influence of the social imaginary in a pandemic period, Uruguay, 2020

Abstract

Study results that refer to the still current health emergency due to Covid-19 in Uruguay, a South
American country located between Argentina and Brazil. In terms of territory and population,
it is the smallest country in the region, which has historically approached European standards,
a trend that was selectively maintained in the context of the pandemic.
Research strategy: an ethnographic study was scheduled in a limited time, between April
and June, as soon as the health crisis began. Ten observation “antennas” were distributed, in
everyday life situations, in health institutions and others.
The bibliographic resources used respond to a search for disciplinary bases with recognized
solvency, rescuing authors and theoretical frameworks, integrating new theoretical-methodological proposals and antecedents related to this research. Motivation of the anthropological expertise: highlighting (cultural) differences in behavior during the health crisis, raising the interest in knowing about the objectification of socio-cultural
factors that influenced the containment of epidemiological progress and then, in the significant
presence of contagions within the health personnel.
Results: we found models that order the understanding of social facts, of real data. The
approach carried out contributes knowledge about representations, contents of social imaginary, which determine attitudes and affect objective conditions in the social, institutional and
personal sphere.