Hazardous Sanitation Labour: Connecting the Past, Present and Future of Manual Scavenging in Bangladesh

尽管被宣布为非法，但在孟加拉国和整个南亚，人工拾取仍然是一种“基于种姓的奴隶制”（IDSN 2014），只是“适应了现代化”（公平研究中心2019）。除了工资低、不稳定和几乎没有社会保护外，从事这项工作的男女和儿童还面临着经常受伤（割伤/割伤、破裂、背部和颈部问题）、疾病（视力和听力障碍、皮肤、呼吸道、寄生虫和病媒传播疾病）和死亡的风险（世界银行，2019年）。自2014年以来，孟加拉国估计有156人死于化粪池（BILs 2019），而在印度，每五天就有一人死于排空化粪池和下水道（印度政府2020）。虽然可持续发展目标呼吁体面工作和保护所有人的公共和环境健康，但人工拾荒者（其全球人数未知）仍然是城市系统中重要的、被忽视的劳动力。污名化和歧视意味着，规划者、政治家和更广泛的社会在很大程度上对这些问题视而不见、闻所未闻（Singh 2014; Prasad and Ray 2019）。在孟加拉国，“肮脏的工作”（孟加拉语nongra kaj）仍然存在，但人们对其知之甚少，手工拾取主要是由自我定义的Harijans（“上帝的孩子”），低种姓，宗教和少数民族生活在密集的隔离殖民地，英国殖民统治的遗产（1858-1947），劳动力迁移和征服（Sultana和Subedi 2016）。虽然孟加拉国卫生部门的机械化旨在消除人工清理，但实际上，那些参与“肮脏工作”的人往往无法从转移的就业安排中受益（Zaqout等人2020年；Cawood等人2021年）。该项目是此类项目中的第一个，将焦点牢牢地放在被忽视的城市劳动力上，以突出改善或替代工作的潜在途径。在这样做的过程中，该项目对知识做出了重大的原创贡献，在其设计中建立了概念、方法、经验和影响相关的创新。从概念上讲，该项目汇集了来自城市研究、发展、地理、历史和公共卫生工程的不同文献和专业知识，通过研究五个关键的、未被充分研究的主题——身份（年龄、性别、种姓、种族和宗教）、移民、居住地、技术法律变革和社会经济流动——将孟加拉国人工拾荒的过去、现在和未来联系起来，这些主题位于对殖民主义和种姓再生的更广泛理解之中。在方法上，该项目采用了案例研究方法和混合定性工具包，包括二手资料、档案研究和关键线人访谈（KIIs），涉及孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦——在这些国家，人工清除仍然是一种基于种姓的职业，英国殖民统治（1858-1947）对这些国家的管理和“肮脏工作”的遗留问题有潜在的重大影响。孟加拉国被用作参与式行动研究（PAR）的“说明性案例”（Flyvbjerg 2006），涉及口述生活史与肖像、焦点小组和与哈里詹青年和社区领袖的影响活动，以解决这一主题经验知识的缺乏。在采用这些方法的过程中，该项目还推进了与城市系统中的边缘群体合作而不是针对边缘群体的工具和技术。概念框架、方法（将档案研究与PAR相结合）和影响方面的创新，包括建立内部和外部的“学习和分享”咨询小组，来自我作为一名社会科学家的独特地位和定位，我曾与跨学科团队合作，并与政策倡导者、活动家和实践者建立了强大的、成熟的网络。这些配置使我处于一个极好的位置，可以协调世界领先的学术研究，并与政策和实践直接联系。

Though declared illegal, manual scavenging persists in Bangladesh and across South Asia as a form of 'caste-based slavery' (IDSN 2014) that has simply 'adapted with modernisation' (Centre for Equity Studies 2019). In addition to low, irregular pay and little to no social protection, the men, women and children involved in this work risk frequent injury (gashes/cuts, breakages, back and neck problems), illness (vision and hearing impairments, skin, respiratory, parasitic and vector-borne diseases) and death (World Bank 2019). Since 2014, an estimated 156 people have died in septic tanks in Bangladesh (BILs 2019), while in India one person dies every five days emptying septic tanks and sewers (Government of India 2020). Whilst the Sustainable Development Goals call for decent work and the protection of public and environmental health for all, manual scavengers (whose global numbers are unknown) remain a vital, overlooked workforce in urban systems. Stigma and discrimination means that they remain largely unseen and unheard by planners, politicians and wider society (Singh 2014; Prasad and Ray 2019). In Bangladesh, a country where 'dirty work' (nongra kaj in Bengali) persists yet is poorly understood, manual scavenging is undertaken predominantly by self-defined Harijans ('children of God'), low-caste, religious and ethnic minorities living in dense segregated colonies, a legacy of British colonial rule (1858-1947), labour migration and subjugation (Sultana and Subedi 2016). Whilst mechanisation of the sanitation sector in Bangladesh seeks to eliminate manual scavenging, in reality, those involved in 'dirty work' are often unable to benefit from shifting employment arrangements (Zaqout et al 2020; Cawood et al 2021). This project, the first of its kind, places the spotlight firmly onto this neglected urban workforce, to highlight potential pathways to improved or alternative work. In doing so, the project makes a significant and original contribution to knowledge, building conceptual, methodological, empirical and impact-related innovation into its very design. Conceptually, the project draws together disparate literature and expertise from urban studies, development, geography, history and public health engineering, to connect the past, present and future of manual scavenging in Bangladesh by examining five key, understudied themes - identity (age, gender, caste, ethnicity and religion), migration, place of residence, techno-legal change and socio-economic mobility - situated within broader understandings of colonialism and the reproduction of caste. Methodologically, the project utilises a case study approach with a mixed qualitative toolkit, including secondary, archival research and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) across Bangladesh, India and Pakistan - countries where manual scavenging remains a caste-based occupation, and where British colonial rule (1858-1947) had potentially significant implications for the administration and legacy of 'dirty work'. Bangladesh is used as an 'illustrative case' (Flyvbjerg 2006) for Participatory Action Research (PAR) involving oral life histories with portraits, focus groups and impact activities with Harijan youth and community leaders to address a dearth of empirical knowledge on this topic. In deploying these methods, the project also advances tools and techniques on working with rather than on marginalised groups in urban systems. Innovations in conceptual framing, methods (combining archival research with PAR) and impact, including the establishment of internal and external 'learning and sharing' advisory groups, emerge from my unique position and positionality as a social scientist who has worked with and within interdisciplinary teams, and strong, established networks with policy advocates, activists and practitioners. These configurations place me in an excellent position to coordinate world-leading academic research with a direct line to policy and practice.