From precariousness to slave labour: contemporary Luso Brazilian portraits

Abstract

This article pays tribute to work as a human value, identity factor and a vehicle for social and professional integration. In addition to recognizing of work historical legacy, the tensions between utopias and realities of work are confronted. Bearing in mind a comparative look between the Portuguese and Brazilian labour realities, a set of transformations that occurred in the labour markets of the two countries are outlined. Such changes, based on contemporary precariousness, can be considered as a sort of a precondition that announces the removal of labour dignity. Consequently, contemporary forms of slavery are analyzed in both contexts, one more situated (in the context of agricultural activity in Portugal) and another (in the Brazilian context) a little more diffuse and inscribed in the Brazilian social structure. The text concludes with the need to adopt urgent measures that aim to dignify the work and that depend on the will and mobilization of multiple actors.