Women Street Reclaimers: Existing Practices and Potential for Organising

Reclaimers engage in precarious labour that involves rescuing materials that have been thrown away and revaluing them because they see value in things others discard as valueless. In addition to the mental and physical challenges confronted by all people (men and women) who do this work, women street reclaimers often struggle to freely navigate urban streets due to safety concerns due to high levels of gender violence and working hours that start before dawn. Research on gender and how reclaimers organise is limited, and this study aims to contribute to this knowledge by exploring the organising experiences of informal women street reclaimers. Through participatory observations and semi-structured interviews with 5 women street reclaimers in Johannesburg who are members of the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) and 3 ARO leaders, this study explored how the women work collectively and opportunities to deepen this collaboration. The findings revealed that, ironically, a key strategy used by women to address the gender issues they confront is to enrol support from male colleagues and partners, which addresses their immediate practical gender needs, but serves to reinforce patriarchal assumptions and power. In addition, women reclaimers also draw on traditionally feminised forms of solidarity, such as stokvels and collective purchasing to mediate their work-related challenges, strategies which are not typically understood as part of worker organizing and collective action.