Abstract
The article describes experiences from collective occupations in the territory and the meaning given to the psychosocial well-being/discomfort by drivers of the public transport tendered in the province of Concepción, Chile. In this research, the methodology was qualitative in nature, with a phenomenological approach. The information was collected through the application of seventeen semi-structured interviews with bus line drivers, which were later transcribed. The texts of these transcripts were the material for the categorical analysis, which allowed defining themes, categories, encodings, and analysis subcategories. Among the most relevant results, the social construction of the figure that is currently perceived as the driver of the public transport tendered in Concepción stands out, understood as a collective occupation in movement and which is dependent on the unique characteristics of the territory. The Conclusions in this study allow us to observe that drivers work long hours in exchange for the economic benefits that work grants them, in some cases showing occupational alienation. Different territories are identified; the terminal as a meeting space where “we are all friends”, a relationship that changes when we go out onto the street, a space that drivers describe as the “jungle”. Thus, the street is identified as a field of struggle, competition, and permanent conflict. It is possible to show that the union organization of workers contributes to the provision of spaces in the terminal territory, allowing collective occupation.
Keywords:
Community Participation; Work; Culture