MEMORIES OF THE GARBAGE: FIGHTING AND RESISTANCE IN THE TRAJECTORIES OF ASMARE RECYCLERS

ABSTRACT

This article aimed to analyze the process of struggle and resistance experienced by recyclable waste pickers, linked to the Association of Paper, Cardboard and Recyclable Waste Pickers (ASMARE), located in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In methodological terms, Oral History and Discourse Analysis were adopted, seeking to analyze the life trajectories of ASMARE members. The main results indicate that the work of the pickers occupies a contradictory place in the recycling chain. On the one hand, there is the generation of income and the production of meanings, which allow the resignification of the work of recyclable waste pickers as environmental agents; on the other hand, the labor conditions of these workers are still precarious and socially invisible. The arduous occupation with the work of recycling creates the challenge for the pickers to deal with the constant ambivalence of their condition, in which the resignified work still disputes space with prejudice and social exclusion.

Keywords:
Collectors of recyclable materials; Association; Oral history