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Sebastián Carenzo holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and works for the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) as an Independent Researcher. He also is a professor in the Department of Social Sciences of the National University of Quilmes (UNQ) and teaches postgraduate courses in the Master in Social Economy of the National University of General Sarmiento (UNGS) and in the Diploma of Strategic Design of Technologies for Inclusive and Sustainable Development (IESCT-UNQ). His current line of research approaches from an ethnographic perspective practices of adaptation, design and construction of technologies developed by waste pickers in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires through which they transform the discarded “garbage” into "materials" of different types, which then could be reused and recycled. In this way, he analyses what could be called a "Circular Economy from below", this is, a set of technological design and experimentation practices oriented to feed flows of reuse and recycling of materials, which are deployed not from scientific and technological institutions, but from worker´s cooperatives and community-based organizations.
How is it possible to design and deploy circular economy (CE) strategies oriented to inclusive development? How can non-traditional units of production and consumption (i.e., actual productive actors such as waste picker cooperatives and peasant organizations) be integrated into these strategies? Using data collected as a result of two long-term participatory action research projects carried out with a waste picker cooperative in Buenos Aires and 65 peasant families in Chaco (both located in Argentina) the paper opens the door to a proactive critical debate in terms of how to integrate circular economy principles with the development of technological solutions (artifacts, processes and methods of organization). We show that CE holds great potential, both in terms of its contribution to the generation of new interpretive frameworks and also, in terms of nurturing local and inclusive development strategies when it is integrated with collaborative, bottom-up and innovative dynamics. Based on the idea of working with heterogeneous traditional production units (not only with profit-maximizing firms), it is possible to think of social development avenues for vulnerable populations, where the CE principles build up mechanisms capable of maximizing the transformative potential of the resources (including those understood as waste) presented in actual techno-economic matrices.
Lucas Becerra; Sebastián Carenzo; Paula Juarez. When Circular Economy Meets Inclusive Development. Insights from Urban Recycling and Rural Water Access in Argentina. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9809 .
AMA StyleLucas Becerra, Sebastián Carenzo, Paula Juarez. When Circular Economy Meets Inclusive Development. Insights from Urban Recycling and Rural Water Access in Argentina. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (23):9809.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLucas Becerra; Sebastián Carenzo; Paula Juarez. 2020. "When Circular Economy Meets Inclusive Development. Insights from Urban Recycling and Rural Water Access in Argentina." Sustainability 12, no. 23: 9809.
This paper draws on an ethnographic research to critically analyze the process of formalization of the so-called “informal” recyclers within the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. It claims that their recognition by governmental and nongovernmental agencies has been mostly oriented to crystallize their role as a workforce in the lower shackles of the recycling value chain. In contrast, other valuable contributions of waste pickers, such as the development of a practical pedagogy towards the segregation and recycling of materials, or the design and manufacturing of their own technological devices, have not been yet properly recognized or strengthened in the same way. Therefore, to approach the waste management field by focusing on the innovations dynamic is revealing of to what extent it is shaped by asymmetric power relations, which include epistemic and techno-cognitive dimensions. Drawing on the notion of epistemic (in)justice, this paper provides a critical reflection on the drivers and obstacles that shape innovation skills aimed at waste management, and thus, define which actors are to be legitimated as “innovators” within this field and which are not. Finally, I share some open reflections about some policy guidelines that could help to profit from the rich body of technological experience and knowledge elaborated within waste picker’s grassroots organizations. At the same time, I will highlight the specific contribution of an ethnographic perspective to the study of grassroot innovations.
Sebastián Carenzo. Contesting informality through innovation “from below”: epistemic and political challenges in a waste pickers cooperative from Buenos Aires (Argentina). Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society 2020, 3, 441 -471.
AMA StyleSebastián Carenzo. Contesting informality through innovation “from below”: epistemic and political challenges in a waste pickers cooperative from Buenos Aires (Argentina). Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society. 2020; 3 (1):441-471.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSebastián Carenzo. 2020. "Contesting informality through innovation “from below”: epistemic and political challenges in a waste pickers cooperative from Buenos Aires (Argentina)." Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society 3, no. 1: 441-471.
The discussion on the circular economy (CE) has attracted a rising interest within global policy and business as a way of increasing the sustainability of production and consumption. Yet the literature mostly portrays a Global North perspective. There is a diverse spectrum of community-based organizations playing important roles in resource recovery and transformation, particularly, but not only, in Global South countries, providing innovative examples for grassroots involvement in waste management and in the CE. This article proposes to add a Southern lens, situated in the context of waste picker organizations, to the concept of CE. The discursive framework in this article couples ecological economy (EE) with social/solidarity economy (SSE), focusing not only on environmental sustainability but also on social, economic, political and cultural dimensions involved in production, consumption and discard. We acknowledge that grassroots movements contribute to policy making and improve urban waste management systems. The paper outlines two empirical studies (Argentina, Brazil) that illustrate how waste picker organizations perform selective waste collection services, engage with municipalities and industries, and practice the CE. The research reveals that social and political facets need to be added to the debate about the CE, linking environmental management and policy with community development and recognizing waste pickers as protagonists in the CE. Our findings emphasize a need for a change of persisting inequalities in public policy by recognizing the importance of popular waste management praxis and knowledge, ultimately redefining the CE.
Jutta Gutberlet; Sebastián Carenzo; Jaan-Henrik Kain; Adalberto Mantovani Martiniano De Azevedo. Waste Picker Organizations and Their Contribution to the Circular Economy: Two Case Studies from a Global South Perspective. Resources 2017, 6, 52 .
AMA StyleJutta Gutberlet, Sebastián Carenzo, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Adalberto Mantovani Martiniano De Azevedo. Waste Picker Organizations and Their Contribution to the Circular Economy: Two Case Studies from a Global South Perspective. Resources. 2017; 6 (4):52.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJutta Gutberlet; Sebastián Carenzo; Jaan-Henrik Kain; Adalberto Mantovani Martiniano De Azevedo. 2017. "Waste Picker Organizations and Their Contribution to the Circular Economy: Two Case Studies from a Global South Perspective." Resources 6, no. 4: 52.