The museum of great novelties of work in Brazil: platformization of work and new faces of the old exploitation of work in the global south

Abstract

This article deals with the continuities and discontinuities of precarious work in Brazil. Through a review of essentially Marxist literature, we present the discussion of work in the country, in particular the case of platformized work, presented by apologetic discourse as a new form of work, but which in fact not only maintains but deepens techniques of labour exploitation that have recurred throughout the history of capitalism. Nevertheless, we reflect on the inseparable relationship between racism, patriarchy and the overexploitation of the workforce, in order to show that precarious work, a hallmark of productive restructuring and neoliberal policies and, more specifically, of platformized work, has always been a reality for a large part of the Brazilian population, especially black men and women.