Popular Health Education in the Contemporary Brazilian Context: epistemological foundations, praxis within territories, and the promotion of democracy through community participation

Abstract

This essay analyzes the role of Popular Education in Health (EPS, by its Portuguese acronym) within the contemporary Brazilian political and social context. Drawing on the experiences of the Observatory for Popular Education in Health and Brazilian Reality at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), the text conceptualizes EPS as a critical pedagogy—rooted in the Latin American tradition—structured around a horizontal dialogue between scientific knowledge and popular wisdom. The praxis of EPS is guided by the goal of overcoming social inequities through the confrontation of "limit situations" and the collective construction of "viable unprecendented possibilities" (*inéditos viáveis*) within local territories. Eight central challenges for the consolidation of this field are identified and discussed: integration with decolonial, feminist, and anti-racist frameworks; methodological rigor in its practices; the sustainability of its institutionalization within the Unified Health System (SUS) without compromising community autonomy; the strengthening of autonomous territorial networks; critical self-evaluation by the movement; the consolidation of the National Policy for Popular Education in Health (PNEPS-SUS); addressing conservatism within local territories; and the restructuring of Primary Health Care to move away from strictly biologistic and productivist logics. The essay concludes by reaffirming EPS as an ethical-political conception that is inseparable from the defense of democracy, constitutional rights, and social transformation.