Reflexividade no trabalho institucional das artesãs produtoras de biojoias da amazônia paraense: práticas institucionais como processo de reconfiguração social

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how reflexivity in the institutional work of biojewelry craftswomen in the Pará Amazon, and their practices, operate as a mechanism of social reconfiguration. Situated within a context that values sustainability, local culture, and traditional knowledge, biojewelry production has become an important source of income generation and identity strengthening in territories historically marked by social inequalities, institutional fragility, and symbolic marginalization. Taking as its empirical focus the work of artisan women from the Guajará, Marajó, and Carajás integration regions, the dissertation analyzes how artisanal productive practices operate as forms of reflexive institutional agency capable of sustaining incremental transformations in peripheral social spaces. The study adopts a qualitative, interpretivist approach and is structured as an article-based dissertation, drawing on scientometric review, multi-case study, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and documentary analysis, combined with thematic content analysis and abductive logic. Article 1 demonstrates that although reflexivity is acknowledged in the institutional work literature, it remains treated in a peripheral and fragmented manner, with a predominance of cognitive approaches and limited attention to peripheral contexts. Article 2 shows that the productive practices of artisan women constitute forms of institutional work that articulate identity, territory, and sustainability, operating as mechanisms of cultural and social institutionalization in environments marked by informality and power asymmetries. Article 3 reveals that the institutional work of these artisans is sustained by lived, embodied, and situated modes of reflexivity—particularly identity-based, emotional, and territorial—which structure everyday practices of belonging, symbolic resistance, and cultural affirmation. Article 4 demonstrates that, in peripheral fields, reflexivity operates as a central mechanism of institutional work through affective, territorial, and political practices, grounding the proposition of the concept of institutional reflexivity at the margins. Taken together, the articles show that the reflexivity of these artisans constitutes the central analytical element of institutional practices in peripheral contexts, enabling the incremental reconfiguration of social spaces. By shifting the analytical focus from formal structures and organizational centers to situated practices and lived experiences, this dissertation expands the explanatory scope of institutional work theory and contributes to the advancement of organizational studies from a territorially sensitive perspective. Keywords: Institutional Work; Institutional Reflexivity; Craftwork; Biojewelry; Amazon Region of Pará.