A DIMENSÃO MORAL DA EXPERIENCIA LABORAL DOS AUDITORES DO INSTITUTO CARVÃO CIDADÃO (ICC) NA SIDERURGIA DE CARAJÁS

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the principles of judgment — or moral grammar — used by auditors of the Instituto Carvão Cidadão (ICC) regarding situations of slave labor in charcoal production sites in Maranhão, linking this analysis to the discussion on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The ICC was created by the steel companies of Carajás to conduct surveys and audits on the working conditions of their charcoal suppliers and producers, seeking to ensure socially responsible practices in the pig iron production chain.The research employed a qualitative approach, combining semi-structured interviews with current and former ICC auditors, documentary analysis of reports produced by institutions combating slave labor, as well as minutes from the institute’s meetings available on its official website. This methodology enabled an in-depth understanding of the auditors’ practices, perspectives, and limitations within their work environment, highlighting the moral devices activated in the daily routines of inspection. The results indicate that social responsibility, as operationalized by the ICC, constitutes a complex and often contradictory mechanism marked by a tension between the auditors’ ethical commitment and the structural limitations imposed by the organization and the production chain. The nomenclature of the “auditor” role is revealed to be dissonant with actual practice, which is more technical and constrained, conditioned by rigid procedures and forms, influencing how agents justify and interpret their work.The closure of the ICC was a decisive moment for the research, as it allowed capturing the agents’ narratives outside the institutional norms, revealing an alternative moral grammar characterized by a dialectic between effectiveness and distancing from the work.This thesis contributes to the sociological debate by shifting the classic antagonism between structure and agency, emphasizing the importance of interpretive and justificatory mechanisms employed by the auditors. The moral grammar identified here not only clarifies the complexity of the agents’ performance in combating slave labor but also provides an analytical framework applicable to future studies on social responsibility and labor in similar contexts.