construindo a cidadania: avanços e limites do ... - Inclusive Cities

ABSTRACTThe question of public policy’s role on the strenghtening of a favourable ambienceto associativism and citizenship empowerment, is the main theme of thisdissertation. The main argument is that the relationship between the State and civilsociety is not a “zero-sum”. That is, not only can civil society exert a positiveinfluence on the State, but also that the State can influence civil society positively.The main purpose is to discuss the achievements and limitations of the SelectiveWaste Collection Project of Belo Horizonte City in partnership with the WastePickers’ Association, as regarding citizenship empowerment. The dissertation wasbased: on documentary analysis of the Superintendency of Public Cleansing’sinternal communications (covering the period between 1979 to 1992) about theactions of removal of waste pickers from the streets; on semi-structured interviewswith the waste pickers and the public cleansing agency’s workers and consultationof institutional documents. What could be observed, is that the infrastructure ofoperational support and the financial resources provided by the municipality,helped the waste picker’s association in providing incentives that reflected on theincrease on associativism, on the improvement of the associate’s life and workingconditions and on their empowerment as citizens. On the other hand, the wastepicker’s participation in this public policy contributed to the creation of a moredemocratic culture within the Superintendency of Public Cleansing, having, also,helped to strenghten the institution’s regulatory capability in the field of wastepicking. The ability of this policy to extend and to consolidate its citizenshipdimensions, lies on the equation of limits referring to its lack of integration within abroader policy for development of a local recycling industry and of a morecomprehensive regulatory urban policy towards the activity of junk shops thatoperate on illegal and polluting basis.Key-words: citizenship, public management, waste management, selective wastecollection, waste pickers.187