Waste Picking in Morocco. Valuing Bodies, (Discarded) Objects and Savoir-faire

On the basis of a fieldwork carried out between Casablanca and Rabat (Morocco) the article sheds light on the technical savoir-faire of waste pickers. The daily gestures used in recovery, collection and recycling are inscribed within flexible and heterogeneous relationships between social actors (waste pickers, institutions, NGOs), work tools (cart, tracks, waste processing machines), materials (discarded objects), workplaces (the street, waste storage centers), and systems of representation. Specifically, I explore the modalities through which institutional behaviours and policies attempt to redefine and value Moroccan waste pickers’ recovery and recycling activities by transforming their savoir-faire into a devoir-faire.