AFTER ALL, WHO ARE WE? Identity processes of people with albinism

Abstract

The text reflects on the identity processes of people with albinism (PCA), seeking to understand: how do people with albinism perceive themselves?; what meanings does being albino/a have for these people?; which affirmative speeches are triggered? These questions guided the intellectual thrust of this writing research. the result of an ongoing doctorate, with ethnography as its methodological basis. Contact with the interlocutors was established through social networks, initially for socialization purposes, sometimes on my part, sometimes on the part of the interlocutors, resulting in moments of listening, conversations, interviews and presence in virtual spaces exclusive to PCAs. I attempt to share what they consider / see / build as their identity, through their narratives and in the correlations between life trajectories, social interactions, encounters with other PCA and the demarcations of biomedical discourse. For this I establish a dialogue with Oliveira (2005) and Ciampa (1987, 2002) which alters my understanding  of identity as a process, a social phenomenon, in constant feedback from the equality / difference binomial and closely linked to power. relations.  For the PCAs, the meeting with other equals is a fundamental element so that the processes also assume a collective character of social recognition and political identity. The condition of incipient reflections tends to signal more questions than answers, as well as the progress of the research. It renders impossible closed conclusions, and opens up reflexive and theoretical paths.