[The evaluation of health programs and services in Brazil as a space for knowledge and practice]

This social and historical study drew on Bourdieu's genetic sociology to analyze the establishment and development of a specialized space for the production of knowledge and practices in health evaluation in Brazil. The study analyzed the trajectories of 28 researchers and policymakers and the historical conditions that allowed establishing this space, using in-depth interviews, document analysis, and a literature review. The resulting material was analyzed according to Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus, and capital. The results point to the constitution of a sub-space for evaluation within Public Health, resulting from interaction between actors from the administrative and scientific fields, respectively, represented by management institutions in the Brazilian Unified National Health System at its various levels and research groups affiliated with public universities. No common habitus was found between the interviewees and the inherent issues and disputes in this sub-space.