ARAÚJO, I. B.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/4427155771723595; ARAÚJO, Iasmim Barbosa.
Abstract:
Recyclable material collectors constitute a heterogeneous group of people, with the most
varied perceptions, experiences and histories that can give rise to an “individual”/isolated
collection work, and which, in some cases, can generate collective work, instituting
cooperatives or associations. Around the second situation, the so-called solidarity
economy has been a theme, which has already been addressed in academic studies in the
country for decades, as an alternative (or even as a resistance mechanism) to the capitalist
mode of production, guided by principles of shared and democratic management of the
enterprise. As a theoretical proposal, the solidarity economy is opposed to the economistic
logic of capitalist production, in which the parties involved would only seek profit and
even their choices to participate in certain activities would be based on a prior analysis of
the possible financial return that may result from that action. We can also say that non-
collectivized collectors also have a practice that escapes an explanation along the lines of
capitalism, seeking to ensure their social reproduction based on a community logic of
solidarity and reciprocity. This does not mean that the collectors (organized or not) are
disconnected from the capitalist system. In both cases, their relationship takes place in an
interstitial way and on the “fringes” of the system, as they supply raw materials to the
industry that uses recyclable materials in its production process. Therefore, the central
question of the research was: what are the perceptions of cooperative and non-cooperative
collectors in the city of Campina Grande/PB about the work they perform, under the
social, family, economic aspects, and, in particular, what is their point of view about
collective work? The main objective of the proposal was to identify the perceptions of
cooperative and non-cooperative collectors in the city of Campina Grande/PB about the
work they perform and, in particular, collective work, based on their life trajectories and
possible reasons or circumstances for choosing to work in group or individual, or the
paths that led them to this or that work situation. To this end, the research methodology
initially covered a bibliographic review of the main works on the themes of solidarity
economy, collective action and social reproduction of marginalized groups, and, in a
second moment, field research was carried out with based on their life trajectories, being
interviewed 19 (nineteen) collectors. As will be shown in this research, the results show
that, although the cooperative collectors make up a tiny group in relation to those who do
not work collectively, their joint action refers to bonds of reciprocity that form values of
solidarity and constitute their activity a moral economy, which does not have the primary
objective of profit or of raising financial resources and individual privileges, but, above
all, originates from the desire of the participants to build a day-to-day of solidarity and
cooperativism. On the other hand, many of the non-collectivized scavengers also work in
webs of solidarity, even though they are not part of a formal structure of cooperation,
maintaining a strategy of reproduction of the domestic unit in the public context, as well
as promoting the division of labor among the members of the family.
