Technological transformations in the Technocene: theoretical challenges for work and social protection

This article critically analyzes the effects of contemporary technological transformations in the Technocene on the concepts of work and social protection models, using national and international theoretical frameworks. This is a theoretical essay with a critical, interdisciplinary, and propositional approach, supported by a qualitative analysis that combines bibliographic and documentary reviews, highlighting contributions from authors such as Bernard Stiegler, who problematizes algorithmic automation and the decline of wage labor, and Parra, Teixeira, and Vallejo, who discuss the impacts of platformization and datafication of everyday life. The research also draws on institutional documents, including government reports and the Brazilian Annual Social Information Report (Rais) database, which highlights the limitations of official information systems in the face of the complex transformations induced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, centered on intensive automation, and the emerging Fifth Revolution, marked by human-machine cooperation. The results indicate that these transformations erode the wage-earning base of the Keynesian model of redistribution, increase the risks of technological unemployment, precariousness, and digital inequality, and weaken the state’s ability to sustain social protection systems. In conclusion, to address this scenario, it is urgent to develop innovative and inclusive public policies that combine professional retraining, digital inclusion, labor regulation, and new forms of redistribution, capable of reconciling technological innovation, sustainability, and social justice.

Keywords:
Technocene; Fourth Industrial Revolution; Fifth Industrial Revolution; Work and social protection; Public policy and labor regulation.