The reinvention of everyday life in times of pandemic

Abstract

In 2020 the Brazilian Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) turns 30 years old. This milestone coincides with the pandemic caused by COVID-19, putting in conflict notions of people's rights linked to the preservation of life and freedom presented by ECA itself. This article explores the reinventions and displacements resulting from the quarantine, which attend to people's right to life in a context where restrictions are imposed to their right to freedom. By assuming the inseparability of Michel de Certeau's concepts of 'strategy' and 'tactics', the article methodologically deals with six expressive scenes of a new practice of everyday life, which are linked, each one in its own way, to three specific dimensions: the families' relationship with technologies; the relationship of families with the school; and the relationship between families and their children. The four initial scenes, explored from the configuration of 'strategy', indicate efforts to shape the forms of social organization. In this case, it becomes evident how, on the one hand, the relationship of families with technology, and, on the other, the relationship of families with school, suggest practices that are committed to maintain ways of existence, even in the midst of a context of exceptionality. The last two scenes are based on the 'tactic' configuration and give visibility to everyday practices of families with children, which we view as ordinary people's reports that, through this very condition, suggest creative possibilities.