The common and the unfolding in the solidarity economy from ecological sanitation

Abstract

As sanitation conditions in Brazil are precarious
in rural areas, it is important to build territorial
actions that value culture and strengthen good
living based on solidarity economy to achieve
sustainable solutions. Dardot and Laval see
the “common” as a counterpoint to the current
political and economic context, in which individuals
assume the role of protagonists in their lives and
manage the “commonalities” for their community.
In this approach, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
(Fiocruz), through the Observatory of Sustainable
and Healthy Territories of Bocaina (OTSS),
constituted an ecological sanitation research
in the Caiçara Community of Praia do Sono, in
Paraty, with the participation of the community
during thewhole process and, through a qualitative
evaluation, the relationship between the community
and the common could be understood. Local builders
were hired as social mobilizers, thus valuing
endogenous resources. Through this articulation,
joint action with public agencies was sought to
foster actions that came from the community itself
and inclusive public policies that put a society at
the center of the process. Supported by the concept
of common and by semi-structured interviews,
this psychosocial study examines the unfolding of
the solidarity economy.