Controversies around the new surge of informal work in Brazil
Bringing together a whole section of informal workers in Brazil, the solidarity economy is a controversial topic among union and political actors. Is it a space for the integration of workers, especially poor or informal women workers who are rejected by a market that is necessarily competitive ? Where different mobilizations, and certain self-organizing practices of these so-called marginalized workers are struggles for equality and social justice that go beyond specific demands (in terms of salaries, working hours, etc.) derived from the pledge of a wage-based society — a pledge that was never meant to cover more than a minority of the world’s workers ? Supported by in-depth conversations with community, union and political leaders in Brazil’s solidarity economy sector, the article sheds light on the relations between the strategies they have chosen and different ways of analyzing the issue of the resurgence of informal work. The controversies raised reveal more global visions of the economy and the place of worker mobilizations in social change.