Políticas públicas municipais, trabalho e empreendimentos solidários na coleta seletiva: o caso da cooperativa Acácia em Araraquara (SP)

Abstract

The theme of solidary economy has gained increasing visibility in recent years. The solidary economy presents itself as a resistance movement to the process of precarious living conditions of workers and has its theoretical basis under construction. The solidary economic enterprises, initially presented as a timid reaction of workers to unemployment and deterioration of labor relations, have proven an efficient generator of work and income, allowing the continuity of their collective activities, with relative perspective of survival. The solidary economy has as one of the key factors for its development the implementation of public policies. Experiences of associations and cooperatives of collectors of recyclable materials have revealed a strict relationship between state and solidary economy. The main objective of this text is analyze if the dynamics in relations between public policies and the experiences of cooperatives workers on selective collection occurs in the sense of building workers autonomy or dependence. This dynamic is analyzed from four experiences of associations / cooperatives of collectors found in the literature and a case study held at the Cooperative Acacia, in the city of Araraquara. Although there are difficulties in notice values of self-management and autonomy in the studied cooperatives, these actions have provided better conditions of work and life of the collectors in comparison to their previous work activities, providing access to social rights by the strengthening of the claims capacity.