In this article two currents of social thought will be compared taking into account the concept of labor. On one side, the theory of recognition defines labor by its cultural and symbolic value, which is conceived in the Western moral hierarchy. Its paradigm is the wage labor and the regulation of contracts. On the other hand, the theory of institutional constructvism understands labor as a productive activity oriented by innovation. It tries to reconcile technical and material progress with the deepening of the social experience of the individuals.
Labor; Recognition; Institutional constructivism; Social theory