Abstract

CUNHA, Tânia Batista da  and  VIEIRA, Sarita Brazão. Between embroidery and Lace: health and labor conditions for labyrinth-makers from Juarez Távora/Paraíba. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2009, vol.29, n.2, pp. 258-275. ISSN 1414-9893.

This article is an analysis of a working activity developed by a group of women who work with handicraft known as “labyrinth” in a small town in the interior of the Northeast Region of Brazil. It is a meticulously designed and finished embroidery used to produce items of decoration and clothing. The objective of the study was to verify the report on the conditions, infrastructure and health of the workers. The theories of activity ergonomics and work psychodynamics were used to enable an analysis of the real work and subjective experiences of pleasure and suffering connected to the work. Observations and individual as well as collective interviews were used as methodological instruments. The results indicate that this work is overwhelmingly carried out by women who work informally in the market. The process, the organization and the working conditions result in a dependence on middlemen, what leaves them in a vulnerable situation in relation to health and without the power to mobilize or organize themselves into cooperatives.

Keywords : Workmanship; Labyrinth-makers; Health and work; Informal work.

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