Do desemprego à usina : aprendizagens e narrativas no mundo vivido das catadoras de materiais recicláveis.

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on learning and narratives in the world lived by pickers of recyclable materials in a cooperative in Santa Cruz do Sul - RS, taking into account its relations with various external agents. The option for this research subject is due to three main aspects. In first place, to understand the living experiences of pickers from a phenomenological and ethnographic perspective. Secondly, to reflect on the relationships of pickers with external agents (public authorities, organizations, institutions, society and movements). And finally, to think the world lived by the pickers in an interlocution with the educational field. Getting together with these women who work in the Usina Municipal de Triagem de Resíduos Sólidos and conducting semi-structured interviews, it was sought to understand the meanings that emerge from this activity. Therefore, an insight of what is experienced, perceived and reported was developed by suspending preconceived ideas to grasp the learning and narratives of the pickers as they present themselves. For these economically disadvantaged women, the trash has been presented as a life choice. They found in picking a way of survival and a possible inclusion in the labor market, creating a feeling of citizenship. The activities in the cooperative are placed to these women as a possibility of income, and the support of partners has strengthened this category of workers.