Brazil

Power dynamics in recycling cooperatives

In what ways have recycling cooperatives given women the power to inspire personal and social change, as well as influence institutions that affect their lives? What institutions have had a significant influence in shaping this unique space? These were the two questions posed by Neil Nunn in the first of two studies exploring gender relations in nine recycling cooperatives in the Greater ABC region (the industrial sector) of São Paulo.

The second study looked at socially produced power asymmetries within the lives of women and men employed by the cooperatives. Mr. Nunn suggested that it’s not only men who oppress women; women themselves play a role in their own oppression. He affirmed this notion by exploring the ways that female cooperative recyclers discursively (re) produce hegemonic masculinity and social roles, abilities and inabilities.

Beyond completing his thesis for a master’s in geography, Mr. Nunn planned to draw on his research to write a book about gender-based struggles, challenges and potential solutions within cooperatives. Neil Nunn (second from right) with members of the Brazilian recycling cooperative.