EVALUATION CULTURE AND EFFECTS OF SUBJECTIVATION IN HEALTH

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the relationship between evaluation culture and subjectivation processes in the field of health. This is a theoretical study on the subject, which works on historical and conceptual aspects of the rise of the evaluation culture in contemporary societies, particularly in the health sector; we have done an analytical review on the arguments that circumscribe the controversies that the themes of evaluation and subjectivity have raised in public health and beyond, in dialogue with Foucault's contributions. The national literature in the health sector is more receptive than the international literature in the human sciences. The most common interpretation, in general, is that evaluation is one of the instruments of governance or management. The major criticism is that it would lead workers to worry only about what is set by the indicators, giving up a broader interpretation of the activity itself. There is a common understanding that evaluative practices aim to produce subjective changes, but also produce unanticipated subjective effects. As for the design of these effects of subjectivation, there is a wide spectrum of points of view, ranging from the development to subjectivities committed to permanent change, to the constraint of subjectivity and to the production of "calculable selves". Along with Foucault's thinking, we can recognize both subjecting effects and the protagonism effects in the use of evaluation. The later, can lead to the self-improvement of work processes or the creation of strategic spaces in power relations.