A dívida da vida: redes clientelistas na saúde "de favor"

Abstract

The relationship between mayors and patients Who use a Casa de Apoio in Natal, RN, shows us some traditional political features anda t the same time happens in na urban and modern context, regulated by a formal institution, the State. The Oestana, as is named this Casa de Apoio, offers daily that are paid by some City Halls located in the West of Rio Grande do Norte where people go away to capital from which they have medical and hospital care. This assistance includes paid services like accommodation, food, transportation, etc., as well as services that aren´t paid as information, support and hospital material, for example. When the patients access these service, they will gain a debt with a services provider (the mayor) which its eventually paid with the vote in the municipal elections. The goal is to understand the social, the political, the symbolic and mainly the life meaning of this relationship. Our research was developed by interviews with Oestanas users and regular visits to this house that showed a political bond regulated by moral and subjection, but is reconfigured by new social categories as the affection and the logical networks.