Functioning as a Device

International Classifications, Clinical Practices, and Public Policies in Brazil

Abstract

This article examines the trajectory of the notion of functionality in the Brazilian context, highlighting its role as a central category at the intersection of health, disability, and public policies. Starting from terminological debates on disability and impairment, it analyzes the incorporation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the creation of the Brazilian Functionality Instrument (IFBr) as tools for clinical and administrative standardization. Based on an ethnography conducted in a physical-motor rehabilitation outpatient clinic, the study describes how functionality is mobilized in the practices of physiotherapists and occupational therapists, articulating therapeutic, bureaucratic, and statistical dimensions. Drawing on a socio-anthropological approach inspired by praxiography, the article argues that functionality is not a neutral concept, but a biopolitical device that structures classifications, regulates access to rights, and governs populations. It thus proposes to understand functionality as a technology of government connecting clinical, scientific, and bureaucratic practices, redefining the contemporary boundaries of disability in Brazil.

Keywords: Functioning; Disability; Rehabilitation; Biopolitics.