Escutas etnográficas e práticas de consumo

antropologia aplicada em territórios não acadêmicos

Abstract

This article draws on the listening to subjects who rarely occupy the center of market strategies: Black, Northeastern, elderly individuals, and young people from Brazilian peripheries. Based on an applied ethnographic approach grounded in active and situated listening, it analyzes how consumption practices intersect with experiences of affection, desire, autonomy, and belonging in structurally marginalized contexts. The research was conducted in a fintech focused on financial inclusion and in forró dance events attended by older adults, exploring how these spaces reveal unique modes of engagement with consumption. Findings suggest that these subjects—often framed as market niches or exceptions—reshape the meanings of consumption and challenge categories such as user, client, or consumer. Ultimately, the article argues that anthropology, by crossing institutional boundaries and operating beyond academia, can act as a critical force of mediation, recognition, and transformation, expanding the reach of research and reaffirming its ethical commitment to complex social experiences.