Homens subterrâneos: o trabalho informal e precário nos garimpos de Junco do Seridó.

Abstract

The performance of economic activities of the extractive nature, in order to ensure a family living in rural areas, remains an important strategy for family farmers. In Junco do Seridó, Paraiba State, and the extraction of wood for making charcoal and mud for making bricks and tiles, has been predominantly developed the extraction of another natural resource: the kaolin. It‟s a clay material which is very important for industry due to the numerous possibilities of use: the manufacture of pigment, loading and coverage in the paper industry, application as a raw material for the ceramic industry, the production of porcelain, tiles, enamels, etc.., application as a matrix for catalysts, electrical insulating, empowering agent of rubber and concrete cover in the digestive remedies industry, pharmaceuticals, component in the manufacture of glass etc. The work of extraction of ore has been considered both by researchers and by the state as being informal and precarious. Several actions, such as the formation of the Local Productive Arrangement of Mineral Base, have been established in order to legalize the land farmed by the miners and "regularize" the status of work, increase productivity and reduce accidents and fatalities in mining. Given this framework, we developed this study aiming to analyze the overall dynamics that organize the production process of the extraction of kaolin in the mines of Junco do Seridó and how they shape the informal and precarious labor. We develop a qualitative methodology that involved interviews with miners, businessmen and public officials of decantamentos, and have done some field observations.