Abstract
This article, based on doctoral research, aims to understand and draw attention to forms of social participation by young people living in a peripheral community on the coast of São Paulo State. It also examines the manners of health production encountered by the subjects themselves, to reveal how young people have approached this in a context of marked inequality. The young study participants were involved in the activities of an NGO and a hip hop group, where the researcher was placed. The results were constructed on the basis of observations recorded in field diaries and semi-structured interviews, and analysed using the Depth Hermeneutics methodology. They indicate that building community ties expresses the participation of young people and contributes to tackling inequalities and social exclusion. Participation in groups has proven potent and able to shape processes of autonomy, self-care and care for others. However, they appear as isolated initiatives by other institutions. It is also challenging to think of ways of understanding young people’s participation, participating together with them in their lives in their contexts, making for horizontal relationships and surmounting the ideas of homogenisation, control and tutelage of this population.
Social participation; Youth; Participatory research; Community; Health