The aim of this article is to analyze the advancement of concepts and practices in labor management called "flexible" in the Brazilian automotive industry, particularly those rooted in the Toyota Production System. Through bibliographical research and an empirical case study of a Campinas, SP (Brazil) plant belonging to a transnational group in the auto parts sector, the author shows how changes in the organization of labor were brought about, together with the demand for the workers to have new professional and educational profiles. This analysis conclusively shows how these profiles articulated with management's methods of evaluation in the contracting and promoting processes have fragmented workers' collectivity in companies, putting monetary value on the relationships that they establish with one another in the workplace since they are based on the introjection and manipulation of their principles of conduct, in the sense of making them subservient to the purpose of accumulation of capital.
Toyota Production System; Labor Sociology; Automotive Industry - Brazil
