Labor process foundations of occupational therapy: an analytical approach based on the dialogue between Social Occupational Therapy and Latin American Collective Health

Abstract

Introduction: This paper presents an analytical approach to occupational therapy practice grounded in historical dialectical materialism. It understands occupational therapy professional practice as work within a capitalist system, and thus subject to analysis through the labor process theory. Objective: To propose an analytical approach to occupational therapy practice aimed at supporting the development of an emancipatory practice framework based on the dialogue between Social Occupational Therapy and Latin American Collective Health. Method: Utilizing emancipatory action research methodologies, this study conducted 10 workshops with 10 occupational therapists aimed at collective knowledge production. Results: Human activity is identified as the object of occupational therapy working process, defined by the category work in its ontological dimension. Radical participation is set as the intended product of this process, which entails engaging in efforts to transform the social determination of collective living conditions. The individuals in this process include occupational therapists and the followed-up individuals, groups, and/or communities, all viewed as social beings collaborating toward social transformation. Four theoretical-methodological tools are identified: emancipatory analysis of human activities, emancipatory proposition of human activities, operationalization of radical participation, and interventions in the social fabric. Conclusion: Occupational therapy, as a form of social practice, offers a specific contribution to the development of a collective revolutionary praxis. This praxis, aimed at realizing a concrete utopia, seeks to generate the means to create a new society.