History as an instrument of empowerment, the case of CORESA

“In order to understand where we are today, it is necessary to review the past” was the starting point of the workshops that have been given with the purpose of providing theoretical tools (social exclusion1, urban marginality2 and environmental degradation) to the comrades who are part of the pre-cooperative CORESA (Community of Recoverers of Santiago del Estero). The main premise to incorporate the workshop called “History of the Carton Movement” in the training cycle has been to put in discussion and reflection among all members of CORESA the historical events that have delineated the emergence of public policies that favor the movement, such as the one implemented in recent years around the Inclusive Integrated Management of Urban Solid Waste. The work methodology implemented has been the workshop, in which perceptions and interactions among the actors that are part of CORESA have been identified. As a starting point, it was decided to use the interactive tool (Mentimeter3) to find out what each of the participants understood by history. Subsequently, theoretical concepts and key events in the history of Argentina (industrialization in the 1940s, neoliberalism in the 1990s and the crisis of 2001) were discussed. In a third moment, a phrase or word that the participant considered relevant to what was worked on in the workshop was recorded anonymously on a card (paper). The following phrases stand out: “The struggle is collective” and “Union”. Recourse to memory, to historical events that have marked the individual, has led to the formation of a collective construction, which has triggered reflection on how and why recycling with social inclusion is sustained today in the city of Santiago del Estero