The Precarious Present: Wageless Labor and Disrupted Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Research reveals that the cyclical migration of catadores—workers who reclaim recyclables from Rio de Janeiro’s garbage dumps—reflects a complex negotiation between the desire for stable wage labor and the relational autonomy afforded by wageless work. This study demonstrates that returns to the dump are not a surrender to precarity but rather a strategic politics of detachment, enabling life to be lived meaningfully in fragile times. By analyzing the experiences of urban poor in Rio’s periphery, the research highlights how specific histories of capitalism in the global South shape the intersection of precarious labor and precarious life. The findings underscore the agency embedded in precarity, challenging conventional narratives about economic marginalization.

Millar, K. M. (2014). The Precarious Present: Wageless Labor and Disrupted Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cultural Anthropology, 29(1), 32–53. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca29.1.04