Work, waste and clean up: narratives about a global/local social action to "clean up" the planet

Abstract

Over the last half century, social practices and relationships have changed but human labor has maintained a central role. In the global south, neocolonial capitalism is steadily advancing, extending and naturalizing an extractive social regime of natural, bodily and social energies. In this framework, the present communication proposes to approach a global/local experience oriented to clean up public and ?natural? spaces. In methodological terms, quantitative data from specialized bibliography, journalistic and institutional publications and field notes are used to reconstructthe intervention/research framework. In the first section, some conceptual relationships between work, identity and sensibilities are established. Then, a brief characterization of social policies related to urban hygiene and waste recovery in the city of Rafaela (Santa Fe, Argentina) is made. Third, the 2019 edition of the World Cleanup Day, promoted by ?Let?s Do It? Foundation and proclaimed as "the largest civic action in history" is presented. On the one hand, the visions and versions of the world (sensu Bourdieu) of the organizing agents construct a narrative about "planetary salvation?. On the other hand, the adaptation of the action to the local reality and the participation-observation as part and witness, allowing to discuss the globalizing narrative. The final section is devoted to revisit the relationships established and to reflect on the continuities and changes of global/local actions of this type, opening up questions for future research.