L’environnement dans le travail et dans les esprits des agents de propreté urbaine : entre contrainte et motivation

• Main Author: Marine Béguin
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Française 2015-05-01
• Series: Sociologies
• Subjects: environment; ecology; profession; street cleaners; refuse collector; drudgery
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/sociologies/5108

This article illustrates the effects of environmental concerns on the work of those with two types of so-called menial jobs: refuse collectors and street cleaners. Ecological issues have radically changed the nature of their work and how they work, and support for these changes is not shared by all refuse collectors and street cleaners, because of variations in ecological awareness and levels of willingness to subscribe to such a “green” approach. Nevertheless, some refuse collectors and street cleaners have adapted to an environmental role as a way to motivate themselves and face the reality of their low-status jobs.