Escravidão contemporânea e o ensino de química: a ciência e a degradação humana nas carvoarias

Abstract

In this dissertation, a relationship was built between contemporary slave labor - or work analogous to slavery - and the teaching of chemistry. The motivation that generated interest in this research, as well as its writing, was the discovery of the author's proximity to cases of contemporary slavery in the charcoal works of the city where he grew up. It is worth mentioning that this type of slavery is not an exact copy of the formal slavery that was imposed on Africans, Afro-descendants and Indians for more than three hundred years in Brazil. Currently, labor analogous to slavery has its characteristics described in the Brazilian penal code, however, in addition to being unknown, these characteristics can easily pass us by, so education can play a central role in combating contemporary slave labor, because to end state of human degradation, we must first know it. Based on this premise, the documentary research developed in this work served as a basis for the construction of didactic material to be developed in chemistry classes, preferably from the perspective of STS teaching, by teachers and high school students. The development of this research and didactic material has as a backdrop the Brazilian charcoal production, mainly those moved by ovens called “Rabo Quente”, which are recognized environments for the exploitation of Brazilian workers.