Unequal Development and Labour in Brazil

List of map and graphs

List of tables

Preface

Acronyms

1. The regional question in Brazil
2. Theoretical reference points
3. Methodological approach
4. The organization of the book

References

1. Introduction
2. From Sudene to the "fiscal war"
3. The period of neodevelopmentalist policies
4. Regional implications of Brazil’s economic and social setbacks, 2015-2019
5. Concluding remarks

References

1. Introduction
2. The regulation of the labour market: The State and the trade unions
3. Labour status
4. Inequality
5. Gender and race/colour
6. Change and crisis in the labour market
7. Conclusion　: The overall picture

Annex to chapter 3. An extended breakdown of labour status

References

1. Introduction
2. The sugarcane agroindustry in the Northeast
3. The irrigated fruit growing pole of Petrolina and Juazeiro
4. Mining non-metallic minerals in the Seridó Paraibano
5. The garment pole of the Agreste region of Pernambuco
6. Footwear production in Campina Grande, Paraíba
7. Shipbuilding in Suape Industrial Port Complex
8. The construction sector in Brazil and the Northeast
9. Information technology workers in Pernambuco
10. Call centres in Paraíba
11. Uber drivers in Rio Grande do Norte
12. The Automotive Pole of Goiana, Pernambuco
13. A synthetic view of the Northeast production system
14. Consequences for the labour regime

References

1. Development and crises
2. The roots of unequal development
3. Issues and scenarios

References

Index

Biography

Gerry Rodgers has a DPhil in Economic Development from the University of Sussex (1972) and an MA (Cantab) in Economics and Mathematics. He worked at the International Labour Organization in a variety of research and management positions, including Director of the International Institute for Labour Studies. He has mainly worked on poverty, inequality and employment, especially in India and in Latin America, and has published widely on these issues. Presently he is a collaborator of the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Labour and Public Policy at the Federal University of Paraíba in João Pessoa, and is also Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

Roberto Véras de Oliveira has a doctorate in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (2002) and undertook post-doctoral work during 2015–2016 at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (Los Angeles). He is presently Full Professor at the Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa. His research is concerned with the Sociology of Labour, Political Sociology and Economic Sociology. He is a Scholar of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and a member of its Social Sciences Advisory Committee, and a member of the Coordinating Group of the Network for Studies and Interdisciplinary Monitoring of the Labour Reform.

Janine Rodgers has a Degree in Economics from Paris (1966), an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex (1969) and a Certificate in Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (1982). She worked for the International Labour Organization on labour market inequalities, on gender issues and on crises. She has been Deputy Executive Secretary of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). She is currently a collaborator of the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Labour and Public Policy at the Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

This book is the result of a long-term and thorough collaborative research project that
needs to be praised. [...] I would recommend the reading of this book as a priority for all social scientists
interested by the economic, social, and political situation of Brazil and its Northeast region
but also, more widely, to all those working on development policies, regional inequality
issues and the determinant role of labour market and employment conditions to reduce
poverty.

Jean-Luc Maurer, Honorary Professor in Development Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

This fine book provides an assessment and analysis of the pattern of unequal development in Brazil, with specific reference to Brazil’s Northeast region, which has historically been significantly less developed and poorer than other regions. It is a fascinating, rich and insightful account of both the historical processes that contributed to the “persistent disadvantage” of this region compared with other parts of Brazil, as well as a careful and penetrating analysis of recent policies that either reduced this disadvantage (during the 2003–14 period) or once again led to increasing inequalities (in the period after 2016, in particular). Clearly, therefore, this book will be essential reading for anyone concerned with Brazil’s economic development and the living conditions of its people, especially in the Northeast. In fact, the book is much more than that and deserves an even wider audience, providing an object lesson in how to study inequality, both horizontal and vertical. The thoughtful political economy approach and the recognition of the intermingling of different forces are both admirable.

Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

This book, authored by Gerry Rodgers, Roberto Véras de Oliveira and Janine Rodgers, is destined to become a reference in both Brazilian and international debates on the country’s Northeast region. It covers a wide range of themes and issues related to the dilemmas of unequal social and economic development, seen through the lens of labour regimes and with focus on the Northeast, a persistently disadvantaged region in Brazil. […] Readers will find particularly interesting the conclusions in Chapter 5, especially Section 3, which discusses issues and scenarios for a possible less unequal future. As can be seen, this book is a must-read.

Adalberto Cardoso, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Journal of Latin American Studies (2025), 1–3