This paper discusses why the precarization of labor is an old and young phenomenon, different and equal, past and present, a phenomenon of a macro- and microssocial character. It presents some fetishes present in the analysis of labor in the context of globalization of capital, marked by the hegemony of finance capital, the restructuring of production and labor and a "new spirit of capitalism." There are five sections: introduction, discussion of methodological issues based on reflections of research projects in progress, theoretical considerations on the characterization of flexible capitalism and the centrality of social precarization of labor, a contextualization of labor in Latin America and Brazil in the light of ILO studies, indicators of precarization and resistances, and a debate on the new and old challenges brought about by the changes under the aegis of the social precarization of labor and a "spirit of capitalism" reformulated, which, while reaffirming the old spirit, constitutes a new spirit.
labor; precarization; resistances; social indicators