CALAS

KNOWLEDGE LABORATORY "ACCELERATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE WORLD OF WORK IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE"

The crises affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, together with the profound transformations in the world of work, have become the central stage on which the region's model of social cohesion is debated and redefined. In this context, regional sociopolitical dynamics take on particular relevance, especially following the strengthening of neoliberal policies after a cycle of progressive governments. The current scenario has seen political elites resort to what Kittrie calls "lawfare," a mechanism used to reconfigure the world of work. This process has, in most cases, led to a significant setback in workers' rights, as well as to the systematic erosion of social and labor protections. Political elites have used legal mechanisms to reconfigure the world of work, leading to an erosion of workers' rights and security and to the emergence of a "new social question."

This Knowledge Laboratory sets out to analyze the effects of the neoliberal crisis and global digitalization on the reconfiguration of the world of work in Latin America and the Caribbean. To this end, it begins with a critical examination of global logics of precarization, the weakening of rights, and rising inequality, as well as the transformations in institutional frameworks, social dynamics, and intersectional relations. Its aim is to offer a critical analytical perspective that allows not only for understanding, but also for proposing alternatives to what has been called the "new social question." We also want to address alternative labor worlds based on self-organization, participation, redistribution, and mutual responsibility. Historically, these forms of organization have always existed beyond the state and, today, constitute an important source of inspiration for reflecting on other ways of life and work outside neoliberal capitalism.

The Laboratory is part of the CALAS Program "Creating Horizons: Accelerations, Transformations, Emergences," specifically within the "Transformations" axis, which focuses on analyzing the global transformation processes that are eroding old certainties and questioning the foundations of our societies, while at the same time creating new horizons for shaping our living conditions.

Research Areas:

Forms of employment precarization, "lawfare," erosion of labor rights, and the weakening of collective bargaining.
Platform capitalism, digitalization of the economy, and the gig economy.
Alternative forms of economy.
Social and cultural representations of labor inequalities.