Garbage Picker as an Urban Homosacer: A Research in Tehran

Nowadays, the problem of garbage collection in Iran has become one of the serious phenomenon and problems in the form that it is manifested in all the cities and metropolises of the country. The problem of garbage collection possesses environmental, economic and social dimensions. The present study tries to narrate the life issues of garbage pickers in Tehran using an interpretive approach. The theoretical view of the research is based on a critical approach and the use of Agamben's Homosacer concept. The research method is based on the fundamental qualitative method and the use of semi-structured interview and observation techniques. Thematic analysis is used to analyze the data. The findings of the research show that garbage pickers face with many problems such as nutrition, sleep, addiction, etc. and they have unequal working relationships with contractors. Garbage pickers are mostly men, immigrants, low-educated or illiterate and live in different places such as streets, worker accommodation centers, outskirts of cities and with their families. Garbage picking as a job is related to other social problems of the city like social inequalities urban consumption, child labor and black holes of urban waste. Urban garbage collectors, like other damaged and marginalized social groups, are the concept of urban homosuckers. Such people are not included in official support.