Work-related experiences and action in urban storylines

recyclable material collectors condition of mobility and social resource

Abstract

The article articulates a reflection about the adjustments and mediations that take place on the streets and homes of workers who collect recyclable materials in the city of Passo Fundo / RS. Therefore, it concentrates an analysis concerning the work that has been developed by an important and very current social segment that, increasingly, represents a community of workers that performs alternative and informal activities through Brazilian streets. It is aimed to understand the movements and nobilities of participants that use their relational capacities to somehow determine and guarantee their ways of life and intimate contouring, which are also subjective and cultural. The empirical research was developed in the years of 2015-16, when 120 collectors were approached on the streets and in the labor association to be possible to understand the workers’ profile, from these 120 workers, 22 of them had been interviewed (narrative interviews) and observed in their work places and homes, therefore it could be possible to understand their personal background and experiences. Thus, the research has guided us to understand how these participants are heterogeneous and dynamic in their life and work backgrounds, integrating themselves with different social groups, acting strategically and tactically and exercising subjective abilities in the face of social possibilities and obstacles established through their lifelong experiences.