Abstract
This article aims to analyze the process through which, in the last two decades, Brazilian trade unionists have engaged in the construction of a "global agenda" for advocating for workers' rights. More specifically, we seek to understand the social conditions of access to international trade union organizations, in order to find out how the global militancy has become an unforeseen path for national union leaders. To this end, we analyze the leadership paths of Brazilian metalworkers who occupy positions in the international trade union federation IndustriALL. The analysis of the data indicates that the paths followed by these international union leaders have been based on social capital and specific militant habitus combined with the development of objective variables that are peculiar to the Brazilian case.
Keywords:
Trade unions; Internationalization; Habitus; Engagement; Militancy