Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 7: The question of <strong>the</strong> futureon offer, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re is nothing but scavenging scraps from <strong>the</strong> world’s overflowingrubbish dumps. Yet <strong>the</strong> numbers of those made destitute through <strong>the</strong> enclosures andexternalities of accumulation by dispossession grows every day while <strong>the</strong> potential forexpanded reproduction within industrial capitalism shrinks and is now collapsing.Excluding people from decisions is <strong>the</strong> pre-condition for externalising costs onto<strong>the</strong>m or enclosing <strong>the</strong>ir resources. At Sasolburg, <strong>the</strong> waste pickers’ labour itself wasenclosed along with <strong>the</strong> recyclable materials from <strong>the</strong> dump and <strong>the</strong>ir exclusion from<strong>the</strong> decision making process was necessary for that end. Abahlali baseMjondolo insiststhat recognition is <strong>the</strong> first priority of <strong>the</strong>ir struggle. This is a refusal of exclusionand <strong>the</strong> necessary point of departure for <strong>the</strong> struggle for environmental justice. It isnon-negotiable. Those who deny people’s right to speak for <strong>the</strong>mselves as equals withwhomsoever claim power over <strong>the</strong>m and this power finally rests on violence. WithAbahlali’s refusal of exclusion, that violence was made explicit.The first world conference of waste pickers was held in Bogota, Columbia, in March2008. Delegates came from 34 countries where waste pickers are getting organised– most from Latin America, where organisation is strongest, and Asia and with asmall group of delegates from Africa where, for <strong>the</strong> most part, organising is barelystarted. Chris Bonner of WIEGO 105 , who helped organise <strong>the</strong> conference, notes that<strong>the</strong> politics and agendas of <strong>the</strong> different waste picker organisations are very diverse.But <strong>the</strong> conference declaration highlights <strong>the</strong>ir common commitment to “<strong>the</strong> socialand economic inclusion of waste pickers in solid waste management systems and topromote and streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>ir organisations” [quoted in Bonner 2008: 9]. Delegatesnoted that, in most Sou<strong>the</strong>rn countries, recycling is <strong>the</strong> province of waste pickers but<strong>the</strong>ir contribution is generally not recognised and <strong>the</strong>ir livelihoods are everywhereunder threat of enclosure as municipalities privatise waste services through contractswith large corporations.105 Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising.- 182 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>