abstract
This article outlines the general characteristics underpinning the development of the labor market in Brazil. Three periods are focused: colonial, transition from 1850 to 1930, and nationalization of the labor market (1930 to 1980). The structural components of each period are scrutinized and we focus on the interaction between continuity and discontinuity in the labor market during the consolidation of capitalism in Brazil. The result has been a heterogeneous labor market, with a high proportion of wage earners, but also characterized by various forms of precariousness and informality that paved the way for an unequal society, albeit in a completely different sense than that observed in other periods of Brazilian history. Nevertheless, the weight of history should not be neglected in this capitalist, modern and exclusionary society.
keywords:
Labor market; Slavery; Wage earners; Inequality; Capitalism
