Fermento na massa: experiências de trabalho e educação popular na prática da economia solidária

Abstract

This dissertation is the result of a participatory research that was developed together with the Rede Paranaense de Padarias Comunitárias Fermento na Massa after theperiodofgreaterrestrictionofthe Covid-19 pandemic. The Fermento na Massa emerged in the mid-1990s and since then has been working with communities on the outskirts of Curitiba and the Metropolitan Region, following the principles of the Solidarity Economy of self-management, democracy, solidarity, cooperation, respect for nature, fair trade and solidary consumption. Based on a theoretical foundation built throughout the master’s degree and consultations with the collection of the Irmã Araújo Rural Urban Training Center (Cefuria), we established the basis of this dissertation and carried out a field research. With the aim of investigating the relationship between popular education in the practice of solidarity economy and the work experience at Rede Fermento na Massa, we carried out a mapping of the situation of the network. Having this same solidarity as a principle, and counting on the support of Fermento na Massa workers and Cefuria educators, we work on an exchange proposal and act in support of communication betweenthebakeries. In parallel to the mapping, we had contact with the practice of Solidarity Economy within theFermento na Massaandfromquestionnaires, participant observations reported in a field diary and semi-structured interviews, we collected the necessary information to achieve the proposed objectives. The results presented in this research are just a small part of the great journeythattheRede Fermento na Massa has built over the last three decades. It is the workers who write and will continue to write this story, valuing the sustainability of the work of the Network, and of the Solidarity Economy movement in Brazil. We hope that these results can be reflected in movements to support these women who work andlivetheRede Fermento na Massa on a daily basis.