Identity, learning and social protagonism: The meaning of work for recycling workers/subjects

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze how workers of recycling cooperatives produce the meaning of their work. Six cooperatives make up the study field. They are active in the recycling of post-consumer waste and are located on the outskirts of Canoas and Esteio (Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil) cities. The choice of these cooperatives was due to advisorship services provided to them by Incubadora de Empreendimentos Solidários do Tecnosocial – Unilasalle, which is linked to the Centro Universitário La Salle (Unilasalle). Eighteen semi-structured interviews with workers who take part in the incubated enterprises were conducted and the researchers also wrote a field diary. The interviews were transcribed, systematized and analyzed through Content Analysis. The results showed: (i) a redefinition of the workers’ identity on the basis of the collective work with post-consumer waste, through the interactions, discussions and valuing of work and the environment; (ii) learning in terms of behavior change at the individual, interactional and organizational levels and (iii) a recognition of the work performed as an action of social protagonism, in which subjects feel that they are contributing to the care of the planet.

Keywords: identity, learning, social protagonism, recycling cooperatives.