Recicladores de base e a subjetividade jurídica "empreendedora": uma crítica a partir da América Latina (original) (raw)

The objective of this research is to analyze the conformation of the legal subjectivity of waste pickers who work in the collection and sorting of urban solid waste, known in Latin America as recicladores de base. Based on Karl Marx's work-value theory and on the critique of the legal form brought by Evgeni Pachukanis, this study seeks to examine the construction of recyclers' "entrepreneurial" legal subjectivity based on the understanding of the role they play throughout the development of the capitalist mode of production. Through comparative case study between the city of São Paulo and Mexico City, it is identified that waste pickers were included in the integrated solid waste management systems from processes of conformation of work subcontracting networks, financialization of the environment and advancement of publicprivate partnerships in the urban infrastructure sector. This scenario acquires relevance with the productive restructuring of capital and neoliberalism, which bring with them programmed obsolescence and the increase in the generation of "garbage", on the one hand, and the intensification of labor exploitation and the construction of an "entrepreneurial" legal subjectivity, on the other. Throughout the research, triangulation of techniques for obtaining qualitative data was used, such as literature review, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation. The comparative case study points out that, regardless of the labor regulation of waste pickers, in both cities the existence of these workers has been functional for capital, which inserts them in surplus value extraction circuits and in exchange relations, as "entrepreneurs" legal subjects before companies and the State.