The meaning of labor within the context of the activity of a recyclable material collector

a case study

Abstract

This article presents the trajectory of a worker who found hers and her relatives’ survival in the collection of recyclable material. Through a case study based on the Biographical Method, within the perspective proposed by Louis Le Guillant (2006), it was sought to apprehend the sense that this waste picker attributes to her work. Several in-depth interviews were carried out, in addition to a documentary research, aiming to know the history of the association. The results of the study offer a greater visibility to the waste picker and to the work she does, concluding that, despite being little valued socially, beyond guaranteeing survival, this work can be a source of recognition and identity, allowing the emergence of new perspectives of life and the projection of a better future. The results also pointed out that, although carried out under adverse conditions, the activity of waste picking is not limited to the struggle against suffering, and can also be perceived as a permanent source of recreation and new ways of living.