ANTH1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Waste Picker, Cigar, Biomedical Waste
8 May 2018
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Week 3: LIVELIHOOD AND MAKING A LIVING (2): Culture and Material
• Millar: Arguments and Evidence:
o Values:
• Autonomy is an important value for the catadores
• There are both advantages and disadvantages to autonomy
o Evidence:
• "Benefits of being a catador on the dump almost always included the ability to
work at any time of the day or night any day of the week, the freedom to take
breaks and socialize on the dump whenever desired, the immediate payment for
aterial, the situatio of eig oes o oss, ad the subsequent lack of
degradatio oerseers of eial serie jos Millar 200:2."
• …eperiee of autoo i iforal eploet a lead to a aareess ad
critique of the alienating aspects of wage labor is supported by the work-history
narraties of Doa Teresa, Aderso ad other atadores i Jardi das Flores
(Millar 2008:28).
o Learning:
• Jardim de Flores is dangerous; successful catadores must LEARN to how to handle
trash
• Jardim de Flores has a social SYSTEM that newcomers must LEARN.
o Evidence:
• For example, catadores frequently employ a form of apprenticeship to teach the
labor process to newcomers on the dump. Despite the appearance of work on the
dump as unskilled, catadores must acquire an extensive amount of practical
knowledge, such as how to avoid contamination from hospital waste, how to
negotiate the traffic of garbage trucks and compactors, and how to make quick
distinctions between different kinds of plastics and paper. Because no formal
education provides preparation for this work, catadores acquire this necessary
knowledge by working alongside someone who already has experience in the
trade. As newcomers arrive on the dump, more experienced catadores take
responsibility for them (including for their safety), working with them one-on-one
(Millar 2008:29).
o Morality: '
• Catadores say that their work is moral
o Evidence:
• Catadores make use of the waste of capitalism in ways never intended by its
original producers. They maintain that they do not work with garbage, but with a
pile of goods and raw materials that are still valuable. By saying this, they are also
reconceptualizing and revaluing the objects and peoples that the present world
economic system discards as waste (Millar 2008:32).
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 3: livelihood and making a living (2): culture and material: millar: arguments and evidence, values, autonomy is an important value for the catadores, there are both advantages and disadvantages to autonomy, evidence: Jardim de flores is dangerous; successful catadores must learn to how to handle trash. Jardim de flores has a social system that newcomers must learn: evidence: For example, catadores frequently employ a form of apprenticeship to teach the labor process to newcomers on the dump. Because no formal education provides preparation for this work, catadores acquire this necessary knowledge by working alongside someone who already has experience in the trade. They maintain that they do not work with garbage, but with a pile of goods and raw materials that are still valuable.
