BIOPOLICY, STATE OF EXCEPTION AND THE MARGINALIZATION OF SOLID WASTE COLLECTORS: KILLABILITY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Abstract

This article examines how biopolitics and the state of exception sustain social exclusions, using the figure of Giorgio Agamben's homo sacer to analyze the marginalization of solid waste collectors in Brazil. With the aim of understanding how sovereign power transforms human lives into bare lives, the study uses a hypothetical-deductive methodological approach and bibliographical research to explore concepts such as band, field and thanatopolitics. Waste collectors are presented as an example of marginalized individuals, living in precarious conditions and subject to violence and exclusion without legal or social protection, reflecting the continuous production of disposable lives by modern biopolitics. The article highlights how contemporary politics perpetuates inclusion-exclusion dynamics, in which these workers, although essential for urban sustainability, remain invisible and undervalued. It is concluded that the perpetuation of these practices highlights the urgent need to reformulate public policies to guarantee rights, dignity and social protection to vulnerable groups, such as waste pickers, proposing a reassessment of governmental and social strategies to combat systemic inequalities and promote effective inclusion and human.