Contexts and Processes of Shaping the Informal Life of Waste Pickers: A Case Study of Afghan Workers in Tehran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD. Candidate of Sociology Department, Humanities Faculty, Tarbiat Modares University

2 Associate Professor of Sociology Department, Humanities Faculty, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to identify the contexts and processes of shaping the informal life of waste pickers among Afghan workers in Tehran. The method we applied is a case study, and we have also used various observational and interviewing tools along with document analysis. We used Mixed Purposive Sampling to conduct this research, and a total of 57 individuals are interviewed, including urban managers and experts, contractors, sanitation workers, forepersons, Afghan waste pickers, and local activists and informants. The results show that various factors at the macro, medium, and micro levels facilitate the informal life of Afghan waste pickers in Tehran. These factors include economic and political situation in Afghanistan, cultural and familial features of Heratian workers, restrictive laws of Iran regarding foreigners’ employment and spatial access, working conditions and interactions in the waste field, roles played by urban hybrid governance, and finally the undignified status of this job among Iranians. Our findings show that several patterns of waste picking can be traced based on the geography of informal settlements and the diversity of economic partnerships with contractors among Afghan waste pickers in Tehran. We propose four informal economy models, including re-outsourcing, percentage partnership, maximum employer, and non-partnership with the contractor. These models of economic partnership have different implications for the power relations between waste pickers, intermediate forces, and contractors. In the re-outsourcing and non-partnership models, contractors have the least, and mediators have the most power. In comparison, the maximum employer model offers waste pickers the least autonomy and contractors the most power. Our findings reveal that there is an inseparable connection between the formal and informal realm of the waste field. They show that the informal arena is more connected to urban governance and urban political economy and less to the developmental issues.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Social Problems of Iran
Volume 10, Issue 1
May 2020
Pages 63-95

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