Masters Research Proposal - "Bridging the Gap"

I wanted to write a quick update here since it has been a while since I have updated this blog. I actually do have a list of topics I plan to still cover and my research has certainly not been on pause lately. But I have been focusing for the last two weeks on my application to begin graduate school here at UFMG and build upon my Fulbright grant by turning it into a masters thesis. I am applying for the Masters in Education: Knowledge and Social Inclusion program, with my line of research under the field of "Politics, Work and Human Formation." While it may sound weird to some that I would be pursuing a masters in education degree, this program actual looks at education in the broader context of learning processes in general, and my focus would be on workplace knowledge acquisition between the catadores and their support partners. My goal for this two-year program is to gain in-depth academic knowledge of the practical issues involved with this field on the ground and to better understand the perspectives of the catadores and the NGO partners that work with them. Later, I plan to return to the U.S. to get a joint MBA-MPP (Business Administration and Public Policy) focused specifically on the question of integrating the informal sector into solid waste management in the developing world. Through the joint degree program, I would develop a better understanding of business practices and public policy specifically related to this topic, and then I would be able to continue my work in this field with three masters degrees representing the three pillars of this work - wastepickers and the third sector, government, and private businesses. Through these three programs, I also hope to learn generally about issues of grassroots community development, social entrepreneurship, and international economic policy.

I'm attaching a copy of the English version of my proposal, to better explain what it is I hope to do over the next two years here. And feedback and suggestions would be welcome. And starting next week I plan to resume regular blog posts again.

“Bridging the Gap – Evaluating Learning Processes among Wastepickers and Support Technicians”

            For my research project for the Masters in Education degree, I plan to continue my work with associations and cooperatives of wastepickers here in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area. Since March of this year, I have accompanied the AlterNativas research nucleus of the production engineering department of UFMG and the leadership team of the Nenuca Institute for Sustainable Development (INSEA) in order to study management structures of organized wastepickers through a Fulbright research grant sponsored by the United States and Brazilian governments. I have learned a significant amount during my time in Brazil and, with my grant ending in December, I now hope to continue my research through the masters in education program at UFMG. I plan to focus my research on the principal problem I have observed during my grant period: the difficulty of building shared organizational knowledge between the wastepickers and the technicians who accompany them. I have divided this proposal into four sections: an overview of my experience in this field, current research findings, the theoretical framework surrounding my question, and my research plan.

History of Research Project

In 2008, I was accepted for a summer internship at the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) in Washington, DC. – a United States government agency that provides grants for grassroots development projects in Latin America. During my internship with the IAF, I reviewed grants given to eight community-based recycling initiatives in six Latin American countries. Using information from IAF field visits, surveys, focus groups, and interviews, I compiled a report describing the key lessons from these experiences in order to improve institutional knowledge of these types of projects. The report emphasized key factors in recyclers’ relationships with residents, governments, industry and internal members. I was fascinated by this general introduction to the topic, and resolved to travel to Brazil with a Fulbright grant to continue exploring organizations of wastepickers.

            The goal of my Fulbright grant was to learn in general about how organizations of wastepickers actually function in practice. From my research at the IAF, I knew that Brazil was an international leader in the field, and I wanted to learn what lessons could be applied elsewhere. In particular, I wanted to understand the internal management structures of these associations and cooperatives, especially relations between wastepickers and technicians, decision-making processes, training courses and capacity development, political and economic autonomy, and management of conflicts among associates.

            I have focused my Fulbright research in several areas. First and foremost, I have accompanied the INSEA staff in a project sponsored by Petrobras to expand and strengthen the CATAUNIDOS network of nine organizations of wastepickers in the Belo Horizonte metro area. I have also participated in UFMG research projects to study reverse logistics and economics of the recycling industry as well as ergonomic principles of sorting warehouses. I have studied the role of governments and civil society in this field through the Minas Waste Reference Center and the municipal and state Waste and Citizenship Forums. I have also contacted international organizations involved in this field to understand other experiences of integration of the informal sector into solid waste management in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and India. Finally, I have begun an in-depth case study of an association of catadores in Contagem together with two production engineering students at UFMG. Together, these activities have given me a broad knowledge base on this topic, and I plan to continue these projects into the future.

Current Research Findings

            So far, I have learned about a wide variety of topics in my research. I have looked at commercialization and industrialization of recyclables, the role of middlemen in the supply chain, infrastructure improvements, technological development, gender dynamics, expansion processes, artisanship, capacity building, training courses, public policies and government relations, and community support networks. Over the last decade, the basic model of organizing wastepickers in cooperatives and associations seems to have demonstrated significant potential: the growing number of similar groups in the Belo Horizonte area stands testament to this fact. With the new National Solid Waste Law passed in 2010, the opportunity for wastepickers to become involved in new local waste management schemes is higher than ever.

              The critical challenge for the National Movement of Catadores (MNCR) now becomes not simply to help the wastepickers organize and gain a political voice, but to take the next step and turn the wastepicker organizations into functioning social enterprises that work to implement recycling programs in municipalities across the country. This transition is crucial for the movement if it is to consolidate its success and continue to grow and evolve in order to resist economic threats such as new incineration technologies and competition from private sector businesses. As Dr. Francisco Lima wrote in 2003, a constant dynamic of evolution is necessary for wastepicker organizations to avoid potential stagnation or decrease of wages. (Lima, 2003, p. 117) To date, the principal focus of this new entrepreneurial approach has been to create commercialization networks among the cooperatives, such as the recently-constituted CATAUNIDOS, CATASAMPA, and CATABAHIA initiatives. However, the construction of these networks and the requisite standardization of certain business practices among their bases is a process that is only now beginning. It is a learning process for all the actors involved, both wastepickers and technicians. 

            I have been involved with the CATAUNIDOS-Petrobras project since it officially launched in April of this year and have observed some of the principal difficulties it faces. In its current form, CATAUNIDOS works more as a support network for technicians and MNCR leaders to accompany individual organizations rather than a business network that unites the activities of catadores across the region. The INSEA technicians, not the catadores, serve as the principal intermediaries between cooperatives, meaning that in practice most of the groups continue to work in isolation. The network’s plastic processing factory, the principal economic activity of CATAUNIDOS, was inaugurated in 2007 only to close again in 2009 after incurring large debts due to the difficulty in establishing joint commercialization structures and building a functioning business model. The cooperatives continue to lack the business structures needed to become sustainable, autonomous social enterprises. They do not have well-established production controls that allow them to measure quantities of commercialized material. Many remain extremely dependent on support from external actors such as local religious charities or government technicians, preferring to defer to them on administrative issues. Within the organizations, conflicts between members are constant sources of tension, making it difficult to make long-term strategic decisions through democratic assemblies. These factors continue to limit the development of the CATAUNIDOS network.

            A major obstacle for the CATAUNIDOS-Petrobras project is one all too common in the field of grassroots development: the visible gap between the learning processes of the technicians and the wastepickers. This new step of consolidating business practices within the cooperatives and creating commercialization networks is something that has never been done before and therefore requires a learning process for all involved. No technician or wastepicker knows exactly how to best implement a commercialization network; everybody involved in the movement is participating in this social construction and trying to put ideas into practice. But in general, the technicians and the wastepickers tend to take different approaches. Several training courses administered by INSEA to teach financial planning to the leaders CATAUNIDOS organizations did not produce any meaningful results, as the pedagogical approach of the technicians to teaching sound financial practices did not match up well with the wastepickers’ perception of the role accounting and mathematics should play in their enterprises. Technicians often talk about developing production controls to improve business administration, but wastepickers often see such activities as unproductive and burdensome in the context of their daily work of collecting, sorting, and processing materials. While technicians are focused on the long-term direction of the movement and strategic planning, wastepickers are more focused on their daily needs of improving income and work conditions.

In practice, the two groups of actors operate in very different spheres, with very different visions, creating an enormous difficulty for the future of CATAUNIDOS. Formulating this new enterprise is a social project that requires as much cooperation and unity of purpose as possible from the technicians and the wastepickers, and the future of the MNCR depends on the ability of these two communities to reconcile their approaches as much as possible in order to build shared organizational knowledge and direction.

Theoretical Framework

            In recent years, organizations of wastepickers have made significant advances in earning international recognition, resulting in an increasing amount of literature regarding their work on the local, national and international levels. As I develop my master’s thesis, I plan to integrate my work into this broader context, helping to situate the CATAUNIDOS-Petrobras project within an understanding of the broader challenges and opportunities facing wastepickers within solid waste management systems in the developing world. More importantly, I will relate my study to current academic theory regarding the theoretical problem addressed in my project: the gap between technicians and the communities they serve and how it affects the execution of a community development project.

            Here at UFMG, several masters’ theses have already detailed the experiences of enterprises that make up the CATAUNIDOS network. Cinthia Versiani Scott Varella, in the department of production engineering, performed a case study of COOPERT (Itauna) to demonstrate the techno-productive process within the cooperative and the key obstacles to improving efficiency, such as the quality of source-separated materials and sorting techniques (Varella, 2011). Fabiana Goulart de Oliveira, also in the department of production engineering, studied the development of social ties among associates of COOPERT, ASMARE (Belo Horizonte) and ASCAMP (Pará de Minas) in order to explain the relationship between efficiency and solidarity within wastepicker organizations (Oliveira, 2010). Sônia Maria Dias, in the department of geography, focused her research on the relationship between ASMARE and the municipal government in constructing a local recycling program (Dias, 2002). These, along with several other local productions (Andrade, 2004; Freitas, 2005) offer insights into the social structures of the CATAUNIDOS enterprises and the technical challenges they face.

On the international level, a growing number of organizations such as Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste Management in Low- and Middle-income Countries (CWG) have begun to build a knowledge base regarding economic and policy aspects of integrating wastepickers into solid waste management structures in the developing world. Access to this growing collection of experiences of wastepickers around the world (Samson, 2009; Gerdes & Gunsilius, 2010; Scheinberg, Simpson & Gupt, 2010) will allow me to situate the CATAUNIDOS project within the larger context of an international movement, drawing on a variety of experiences from different countries to get a better sense of the challenges and opportunities involved in this sector and how they relate to my research project.

Although the local and international literature in this field is abundant, I have not found any research that directly addresses the question how technicians actually attempt to implement their interventions within the social context of the wastepicker communities, and what sort of conflicts they encounter. By studying the construction of the CATAUNIDOS project by INSEA technicians and the wastepickers, my thesis will focus squarely on the intersection of the social and technical approaches.

            In referring to his work with local wastepickers, Dr. Lima has written about the importance of developing a science of solidarity production engineering, precisely because the field is “situated at the crossroads of the technical and the social.” (Lima, 2003, p.126). This echoes calls by Dr. Yves Schwartz to recognize how technical knowledge is adapted to the dynamic learning environment of the workplace, where workers must constantly apply “local reinventions” in order to situate this knowledge within the historical context of their experience and organization (Schwartz, 2003, p.26). Schwartz’s concept of reinvention through application relates to Dr. Jean Lave’s theories regarding “situated learning,” which explains that workplace knowledge is a result of participation within an authentic activity and social collaboration among “communities of practice”: groups of individuals working together within the same context and expressing a certain confluence of beliefs and behaviors (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Because technicians and workers do not perform the same authentic activity (producing procedures for technical-scientific efficiency vs. producing the product itself) and because they often operate within separate “communities of practice”, working amongst like individuals on their given task, it is not surprising then that the two groups of actors would come to develop separate learning processes, and that workers would feel the need to “reinvent” practices developed by a group of technicians.

            This gap between technicians and workers that develops naturally as a result of separate contexts of situated learning is further intensified when a group of well-educated individuals attempts to intervene in a marginalized community. In this scenario, the gap is accentuated by the cognitive differences between the two groups. In his recent work, A Ralé Brasileira, sociologist Jessé Souza articulates how social exclusion within the school environment restricts lower-class Brazilians almost exclusively to manual labor and undermines their long-term cognitive ability (Souza & Grillo, 2009). Considering that many of the technicians who work with wastepickers often hold bachelors’ degrees or even master’s degrees, there is a wide gap in formal education that affects the ability of the two sides to mentally process and comprehend what the other attempts to communicate. This can be an especially significant problem when technicians try to impart skills that require certain intellectual ability, such as financial management, which necessitates a basic understanding of mathematics and accounting procedures. Similarly, technicians’ lack of experience with difficult manual labor undermines their ability to understand the needs and concerns of the wastepickers. 

            Another theoretical question to be explored is that of the educator-student relationship. As outlined above, the two processes of workplace learning (technical-scientific principles and the practical “reinvention” of those ideas) often interact with each other in a reciprocal way; the technician and the worker learn from each other. This is certainly the case with the INSEA/CATAUNIDOS project, as technicians try to impart management techniques and business practices while the wastepickers explain the daily demands and practical issues of their enterprise. This is closely related to Alvaro Vieira Pinto’s theory of “reciprocity of the educational relationship: student as educator” (Pinto, 2003, p.113). The relationship between technician and wastepicker and the reconciliation of the two approaches are most important during moments of teaching—when one side attempts to communicate information to the other in order to change current practice. During my research, I plan to focus closely on the question of the educator-educated relationship to better understand how learning and teaching processes can lead to closer cooperation, particularly in the area of adult workplace education.

            In addition to exploring the themes of workplace knowledge and education, I also plan to integrate political economy into my master’s project. The work of Elinor Ostrom, the 2009 Nobel Prize recipient in economics, will be of particular relevance. Dr. Ostrom has developed a framework for evaluating institutions of collective action that do not fit traditional models of private businesses or government entities. She identifies three levels of analysis of these institutions, each “deeper” than the last: operational (day-to-day decisions), collective-choice (management and policy-making prodedures), and constitutional (formulating governance structures, determining eligibility of participation). She then explains the factors that affect rule-making at these three levels, such as monitoring and enforcement mechanisms as well as collective-choice arenas, both formal, such as legislatures and courts, and informal, such as casual gatherings and work environments (Ostrom, 1990, p.52-53). Dr. Ostrom’s work has special relevance for organizations such as associations and cooperatives, which operate with very different decision-making procedures and rule structures than normal economic and political entities. I will use this framework to evaluate the role both technicians and wastepickers play in establishing and modifying the institutional apparatus of their organizations, focusing especially on how rules are applied and enforced. The mechanisms by which the technicians and wastepickers exert their influence to craft institutions better suited to their needs and desires will be crucial in understanding how contrasting approaches are reconciled in practice. 

             While this basic overview of theories related to my research topic will provide a good starting point for my project, it is by no means exhaustive of sufficiently profound.   I will continue to explore studies of the local and international context of wastepickers, scientific vs. historical work knowledge, situated learning, cognitive abilities, educator-student relationships and political economy of collective institutions, as well as various new theories and viewpoints I am sure to encounter along the way, in order to further elaborate the theoretical implications of my research.

           

Research Plan

            Because my Masters project will essentially be a continuation and deepening of my current Fulbright research, I will be able to build on the groundwork I have already established in this field. My experience in Brazil this year has allowed me to understand the basic context of the wastepicker movement, which means that I will be able to focus my topic from the outset of the Masters program. I will complete my field research in November and return to the United States in December, whereupon I will compile my Fulbright final report. Should I be accepted to the UFMG masters in education program, I will be able to use this final report as a starting point for my research.

            My research will focus on possibilities for addressing the difficulties encountered in reconciling the separate visions of technicians and wastepickers. While I believe that a certain degree of division will always exist, I would like to study how the various actors involved in the CATAUNIDOS project attempt to limit this problem in order to advance the new entrepreneurial goals of the MNCR. Accompanying and analyzing this process will provide important insight into a problem that economic development specialists across the world commonly face: overcoming social, organizational and cultural differences in order to promote participative, inclusive and dynamic programs together with the members of the communities in which they work. From rural extension programs to public health initiatives and education reforms, external actors trying to promote positive changes within communities constantly struggle to implement their projects in a way that promotes ownership and participation by the people whose lives they aim to improve. Although my research will focus specifically on the future of wastepicker organizations, it will have broad implications for our understanding of development processes in general.

            I will execute my research by continuing to participate as much as possible in the activities of INSEA, accompanying its technicians on weekly site visits, participating in regular strategic planning meetings and assemblies, studying the implementation of a new business plan for the network (currently being constructed through the support of SEBRAE), and having regular discussions with all representatives of the NGO who are involved in the project. I will research the perspective of the wastepickers through interviews, focus groups, direct observation, and informal conversations that I will conduct independent from my participation with INSEA. I also plan to study the Redesol cooperatives, a separate network of wastepicker organizations that are more closely associated with the municipality of Belo Horizonte and its supporting institutions. The comparison of CATAUNIDOS with Redesol should give me greater perspective on varying approaches used by technicians and wastepickers in constructing these networks.

            I will refine my methodological approach through consultation with my advisor, but I do have a strong starting point for conducting my research. Through my academic career in undergraduate education, I have a good working knowledge of public policy, economics, sociology and history, which will allow me to understand the broader issues of wastepicker organizations within the macroeconomy. With my experience conducting field research in Bolivia and Nicaragua as well as here in Brazil, I am already comfortable with performing interviews, focus groups, literature review and quantitative economic analysis in foreign countries, so cultural and linguistic issues should not present a significant difficulty for me. During my studies in Bolivia, I took a course on field study methodology and learned to implement various projects such as life histories and documentary filmmaking through an anthropological perspective. Also, I am currently participating in Dr. Lima’s class on Qualitative Methodology of Ergonomic Analysis in the department of production engineering. I am in the process of applying this methodology through field research with the wastepickers of ASMAC (Contagem), so I am continuing to develop my understanding of concepts such as intentionality, verbalizations, modus operandi, consciousness, and competence and relating them to the work environment of the wastepickers. While these experiences provide me with a strong background for my research, I hope to continue to build my methodological and theoretical knowledge through my classes at the Faculty of Education. 

            Completing the masters program at the Faculty of Education will be an important step forward in my career goals. I plan to work long-term in this field, focusing on the integration of the informal sector in solid waste management in the developing world. It is an area that I am extremely passionate about, and one in which I believe I will have much to contribute. More broadly, the lessons I will learn from this case study will deepen my understanding of grassroots development in general, which will allow me to continue the academic path I began during my undergraduate education. In addition, over the last several years I have developed a special relationship with Latin America and I want to continue to explore and study this region. Over the course of the masters program, I hope to deepen my understanding of Latin America, and Brazil especially, so that I can become actively involved in this region over the remainder of my career.

Bibliography

DIAS, S. M. Construindo a Cidadania: Avanços e Limites do Projeto de Coleta Seletiva em Parceria com a ASMARE. Dissertação (Mestrado em Geografia) – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 2002.

LAVE, Jean; WENGER, Etienne. Situated Learning; Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1991.

LIMA, Francisco P. A. A Engenharia da Produção Solidária. In: UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS. Faculdade de Educação. Núcleo de Estudos sobre Trabalho e Educação. Revista Trabalho e Educação, Belo Horizonte, v.12, n.1, jan-jun 2003, p. 115-126.

OLIVEIRA, F. G. O. Processo de Trabalho e Produção de Vínculos Sociais: Eficiência e Solidariedade na Triagem de Materiais Recicláveis. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia de Produção) - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 2010.

OSTROM, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evaluation of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press, 1990.

PINTO, Alvaro Vieira. Sete Lições sobre Educação de Adultos. São Paulo: Cortez/Autores Associados, 2003.

SAMSON, Melanie (Ed.) Refusing to be Cast Aside: Waste Pickers Organizing Around the World. Cambridge: WIEGO, 2009.

SCHWARTZ, Yves. Trabalho e Saber. Tradução por Daisy Moreira Cunha, Francisco Lima e Eloisa Helena Santos. In: UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS. Faculdade de Educação. Núcleo de Estudos sobre Trabalho e Educação. Revista Trabalho e Educação, Belo Horizonte, v.12, n.1, jan-jun 2003, p. 21-34.

SOUZA, Jessé; GRILLO, André. A Ralé Brasileira: que é e como vive. Belo Horizonte: Editora Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 2009.

VARELLA, C. V. S. Revirando o Lixo: Possibilidade e Limites da Reciclagem como Alternativa de Tratamento dos Resíduos Sólidos. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia de Produção) – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 2011.