What Machines Do (Not) Say: Sociotechnical Experience as an Economic (and Political) Tool of a Cooperative of “Cartoneros” in the Buenos Aires Greater Metropolitan Area

This article presents the results of an ethnographic study of the practices involved in the design, construction and systematization of machinery by a cooperative of cartoneros (waste pickers) in Argentina. The research demonstrates that as well as providing financial support to the cooperative, this sociotechnical expertise contributes to defining its political identity and its role in the regional and global scenarios that bring together social organizations dedicated to the recovery and recycling of waste.