PRECARIOUSNESS AND FEMALE EXPERIENCES OF WORKING IN THE "ROAD SECTION"

BETWEEN THE HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS AND THE BROTHEL – QUEVEDOS (RS)

Abstract

The installation of four small hydroelectric power plants in the city of Quevedos, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, has generated subcontracted informal jobs. The emerging jobs attracted workers from different country states, mainly from the South and Northeast regions. Women, in this context, are inserted in the most underlings sectors. This study aims to understand to what extent the precariousness of work has marked the transformations related to female labor and the formation of a gender territory amidst the spaces of hydroelectric plants and the local whorehouse, from the city of Quevedos-RS, between 2018 and 2021. As a theoretical framework, we mobilized contributions from gender studies and the Sociology of Labor. Also, we used narrative research involving female workers from the mills and brothels and documentary research. The results point to the formation of a gender territory from the shared experiences of work and life precariousness. That is related to degrading working conditions, contesting actions, and oppressive gender relations.