Public Credibility, Situated Knowledge: Epistemic Dispute Over the Essure Device in the Brazilian Federal District

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/2176-6665.2023v28n3e47895

Keywords:

Essure, Credibility, Epistemic injustice, Situated knowledges

Abstract

Between 2012 and 2016, approximately 2,500 women had the Essure contraceptive device implanted at the public service of the Federal District of Brazil. Although they initially trusted the evaluation of the District's Health Department professionals, patients were subjected to repeated situations of epistemic injustice when complaining about adverse effects attributed to the device. In this paper, I analyze two public events and argue that, in response to the gap of trust in the Department, the victims of Essure began to claim a space of credibility in the debate about this technology, questioning the technical-scientific authority of the institution and tensioning the established epistemic relations.

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Author Biography

Ana Carolina Lessa Dantas, University of Brasilia (UNB)

Master in Law from the University of Brasília (2021). Doctoral student in Law at the Graduate Program in Law at the University of Brasília. Email: anacarolinaldantas@gmail.com

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Published

2023-09-05

How to Cite

DANTAS, Ana Carolina Lessa. Public Credibility, Situated Knowledge: Epistemic Dispute Over the Essure Device in the Brazilian Federal District. Mediações - Revista de Ciências Sociais, Londrina, v. 28, n. 3, 2023. DOI: 10.5433/2176-6665.2023v28n3e47895. Disponível em: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/47895. Acesso em: 2 mar. 2026.

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