A economia informal da reciclagem do lixo de Porto Alegre: dimensões socioambiental e cultural

The present paper describes some of the daily actions done by the scrap materials’ collectors in Porto Alegre, explaining micro-foundations of the informal economic relationships that characterise this economic ambient and analysing the social practices that carry the economic transitions. The study focuses on the concrete situations where social actors operate, on the effects of the interactions among them, and on the continuous mixing of formal and informal factors in the actions’ structures. This approach emphasises the processes through which the social actors try for constructing again their life, withstanding the social and economic exclusion. In particular, the empirical evidence shows how social practices – and, especially, some forms of grassroots organisations – contribute to improve the living and working conditions of the scrap materials’ collectors, favoring the creation of unexpected conditions of social and economic development