The question that drives this paper is: When can we expect firm upgrading by developing-country suppliers in global value chains will lead to improvements in labour conditions? To deal with this question we, (a) position firm upgrading in the global value chain approach, (b) investigate existing evidence and conceptualisations on how economic globalisation impacts on labour, and (c) develop some hypotheses on when we can expect firm upgrading and improvements in labour conditions to go together. We conclude that firm upgrading in developing-country suppliers in global value chains as a rule does not lead to improvements in labour conditions. Instead, the much broader and more forceful process of immiserising growth makes it very unlikely that workers in such relatively low-skilled production activities will enjoy improvements in labour conditions. Ethical sourcing may lead to improvements in labour conditions of core workers in final product manufacturers and key supplier firms, but it is as yet unclear to what extent such a business model can and will be disseminated. More generally, even though economic globalisation does selectively create new jobs, even labour conditions of core workers may be under pressure while the overall proportion of core workers appears to be declining. Copyright (c) 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

This paper identifies impacts of value chain inclusion on labour from a social sustainability perspective. It focusses on the tasks, livelihoods and subjectivities of Amazonian flood plain peasants (ribeirinhos) who collect açaí for sale to an expanding market. The 'logic' of ribeirinho chain inclusion is explored using a combination of labour process and human security indicators. While household income benefits can be significant, gains may be threatened by monoculture trends and local power structures. Human security indicators suggest further caution. Whilst ribeirinhos remain very 'flexible' workers, chain engagement entails insecurities, as highlighted by their variable views of collectivity and contradictory positions with respect to sustainability. Sustainable chain prognoses require a deeper understanding of agents' means and of the preferred choices and voice of those working at the beginning of chains.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a massive disaster in Brazil, causing more than 350,000 deaths as of April 2021. Moreover, President Jair Bolsonaro suggested that already marginalised groups should take what came to them, as if they were an expendable surplus in his necropolitical perspective. However, civil society initiatives are emerging to tackle the impacts of this crisis. This paper adds to current literature on the forms and levels of resistance to disasters, using primary and secondary data pertaining to three key Brazilian groups: domestic workers; the urban poor in favelas; and indigenous Amazonians. The analysis indicates that their historical, political resistance has been a foundation upon which to develop disaster mitigation and their actions have built on and gone beyond previous modes of organising. More specifically, their responses have replaced a 'present-absent' federal government, entailed local, innovative adaptations, led to new public-private sector relations, and may offer the prospect of consolidation.

IntroduçãoNo início da década de 1990, um grande nú-mero de especialistas sugere que os empregadores que modernizarem seus sistemas de gestão e do local de trabalho possivelmente vão se tornar mais dependentes da qualificação e das atitudes de seus empregados.1 Todavia, a freqüente observação do desenvolvimento de mecanismos de controle do trabalho mais sofisticados põe em dú-vida a dedução de que o trabalho e as atitudes em relação a ele, em grande medida, "vão melhorar" na empresa modernizada.2 No entanto, outros autores vão além de uma crença nos efeitos que mudanças relativas ao trabalho possam ter, por si só, sobre as atitudes. Sugerem que os trabalhadores das empresas modernizadas serão persuadidos a fazer "mais do que o estabelecido em contrato", devido ao surgimento de uma forma de vínculo forte e direto com o empregador.3 Além disso, não se sabe que conseqüência o desaparecimento das atitudes "nós e eles" poderá ter sobre as atitudes do trabalhador em relação a seu sindicato.O objetivo deste artigo é estudar esses debates sobre a dependência do empregador e as atitudes do trabalhador em relação ao empregador e ao sindicato. O empregador torna-se realmente mais aberto e democrático e o "eixo de lealdade" mudou como os otimistas sugerem? Mais especificamente, em que medida os trabalhadores estão mais ligados a seu empregador? Isso indica também que o sindicato poderá se tornar cada vez mais irrelevante para os trabalhadores no âmbito dessa nova empresa de "ganhos mútuos"? O contexto em que o estudo que serve de base para este artigo foi realizado é a indústria brasileira de refrigeradores e máquinas de lavar duran-

This article explores the effect of an evolving global value chain (GVC) on the livelihoods and labor processes of traditional communities, a theme of great conjecture within the literature. We review the impact of the new surge of demand for açaí within four traditional communities in Amapá, along with their production processes and work divisions within a specific understanding of their sense of territory. The research was conducted with field work involving participant observation, interviews, questionnaires and photographic records. The results allowed detailing the actors, the organization, the (informal) contractual process and the form of governance within the chain. The paper highlights how rising demand creates new conflicts and uncertainties for chain governance, and that this is directly linked to the nature of contractual informality and communal property rights. This adds to existing concerns with respect to the prospect of communities/labor gains (social upgrading) as a result of GVC insertion.