Configuração política e relações de poder no trabalho infantil doméstico: tensões nos discursos dos media e de trabalhadoras

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to understand the power relations that traverse the Child Domestic Labor (CDL) and analyze their effect on the political configuration of this issue. According to the literature on the CDL, it is a severe form of domination. As a result, the place given to the affected subject is marked by the subordination and inferiority. Confronting perspectives that subjugate the critical ability of individuals to interpret the situation in which they live, we resorted to the Honneths (2007; 2012a) conceptualization of ideological recognition, which allows us to discuss about the rational motivations, based on a system of beliefs, that make with people accessing the logics and practices that may put them in a position of domination. We assume that between ideological recognition and political struggle would be an area of disputes, resistance and solidarity and we placed our research in the discussion about this place and about the power relations that build it. In the case of child domestic labor, the struggle for tackling this problem was undertaken by advocacy organizations, which, as self-authorized representatives, spoke on behalf of the individuals affected by the CDL. Our research problem, then, is to analyze how power relations acts in the political configuration of child domestic labor both from the point of view of the affected people and from the media, in a social context in which advocacy groups publically fight against this type of child labor and have the support of the media. About the theoretical framework on the concept of "political", we dialogue essentially with three authors: Habermas (2003), Mansbridge (1999; 2009) and Honneth (2003). To guide the discussion about power, we set out from Allen's (1998; 2000) perspective that highlighted three analytically distinguishable aspects of this concept: power over, power to and power with. We focus our analysis of the state of Pará, where existed from 2000 to 2010 the Programme to Combat Domestic Child Labour (Petid), by Cedeca-Emaús, in partnership with local and international entities. The research was organized from two axes: (1) public thematization of child domestic labor in the media, as a privileged space to observe the construction and deployment of shared meanings about child domestic labor; (2) discourses of workers and former child domestic workers about this practice seized through focus groups. In total, we investigated 136 articles published in major local newspapers (O Liberal and Diário do Pará) between 2000 and 2009 and conducted seven focus groups with girls and women directly affected by CDL. As a general methodological scheme, Allens (2000) suggestions inspired us to examine the way in which power relations participated in the formation of: (1) subject-positions; (2) cultural meanings; and (3) social practices (especially political). The results were presented comparatively between what the media and the affected people said and were divided into three themes: definitions of the CDL; Experiences in CDL; and Future Projections and Responsibilities. The findings indicate that, depending on the issue at hand, the interplay between power relations could impact in political practices of acceptance, resistance or demonstration of injustice.