Identities, latin american matters and knowledge production in Occupational Therapy: dialogues with Boaventura de Sousa Santos

This essay reflects on the constitution of identity and knowledge production within the realm of discussions about occupational therapy in Latin America. The text presents the reflective and subjective processes experienced by the author, while discussing the central theme and dialoguing with the ideas of Boaventura de Sousa Santos. It briefly describes the Brazilian academic production on the themes of occupational therapy, identity and complexity, and the potential international interests on the subject. It emphasizes the tensions of contemporary subjectivity which moves across the individual and the collective, the universal and the singular, and its consequences to the constitution of occupational therapy knowledge and practice. The essay discusses the impacts of the demands for productivity in contemporary university and stresses the researchers’ difficulties regarding daily academic and administrative requirements. The paper highlights the difficulties of sharing knowledge and experiences among Latin American occupational therapists and questions the existence of a Latin American identity, drawing attention to the tensions that circumscribe possible consensus and differences