Ecologies of scavenging: waste, gathering and scavenging in downtown São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/10866-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Moura Fagundes
• Grantee: Daniel Laerte Segetti Luchini
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/03639-0 - Ecologies of scavenging: waste, gathering and scavenging in the centre of São Paulo, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

This research project intends to base parameters for an ethnographic study with recyclable materials collectors, homeless in the center of the city of São Paulo. The focus is on the technical diversity of the gathering activity, which can be found in the forms of interaction with urban waste. The emphasis here is on the collectors' modes of action and territorialities. In this sense, we propose an ethnographic study that starts at the Minas Reciclagem scrapyard, located on Bento Freitas Street, where these materials are purchased. We seek to map the itinerancy of these collectors, their gestures, gathering circuits and exchange of recyclable materials.