The Argentina media often report “slave labor” conditions in clothing production and seed nurseries. A critical assessment of the types of coercion (economic and noneconomic) that hold workers under these brutal conditions indicates that instances of extraeconomic coercion are merely the extreme manifestation of a general situation in which economic coercion predominates. The determinants of the deterioration of working conditions in these two sectors include relative overpopulation and technological backwardness. Los medios habitualmente refieren en a las condiciones laborales en los talleres textiles y empresas semilleras argentinas como formas de “trabajo esclavo.” Un balance crítico de los tipos de coacción (económica o extraeconómica) que confina a estos trabajadores a brutales condiciones laborales indica que los casos particulares donde existe alguna forma de coacción extraeconómica pueden considerarse la manifestación extrema de una condición más extendida donde la coacción económica predomina. Las determinaciones del deterioro de las condiciones laborales en estas dos ramas económicas incluyen la expansión de la sobrepoblación relativa y el carácter tecnológicamente atrasado de estas actividades.

In this paper, we examine the different layers of the relative surplus population in Argentina and the development of the Argentinian piquetero movement, which tried to establish an alliance between employed and unemployed workers. We highlight the potentialities and the limits of this initiative, especially regarding the organisation and integration of the different layers of the relative surplus population.

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Braverman is considered an unquestionable reference of Marxist labour process. The objective of this paper is to show that despite Braverman's undeniable achievements he forsakes the classical Marxist notions related to work organization, i. e. simple cooperation, manufacture and large-scale industry and replaces them with the notion of Taylorism. We also intend to show that because of this abandonment, Braverman cannot explain properly how the deskilling tendency operates in different historical periods, and in distinct industry branches. Finally, we try to demonstrate that those Marxist concepts neglected by Braverman are especially useful to understand labor unrest related to job organization. Braverman overvalues the incidence of labor fragmentation and direct forms of control and disregards the impact of mechanization achieved with the emergence of Large-scale industry and the new forms of control associated with it. Whereas Braverman's allegedly Marxist orthodoxy is considered responsible for this, in fact, exactly the opposite can be asserted: the weaknesses of the otherwise noteworthy work of Harry Braverman are grounded in his relinquishment of some crucial Marxist concepts. We state that labor processes conventionally considered Taylorist or Fordist can be reconceptualized in Marxist classic terms allowing a better understanding of the dynamic of conflicts regarding labor process.Keywords: Labor process. Politics. Marxism. Regulationism. Workers' Struggles. ResumoBraverman é considerado uma referência inquestionável do processo de trabalho marxista. O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar que, apesar das contribuições inegáveis de Braverman ele abandona as noções marxistas clássicas relacionadas à organização do trabalho, a saber, cooperação simples, manufatura e grande-indústria e substituí-las com a noção do taylorismo. Também pretendemos mostrar que, por causa desse abandono, Braverman não pode explicar adequadamente como a tendência desqualificação opera em diferentes períodos históricos, e em ramos da indústria distintas. Por fim, tentamos demonstrar que esses conceitos marxistas negligenciados por Braverman são especialmente úteis para compreender problemas trabalhistas relacionados com a organização do trabalho. Braverman supervaloriza a incidência de fragmentação do trabalho e formas diretas de controle e desconsidera o impacto da mecanização alcançado com o surgimento da indústria em grande escala e as novas formas de controle associados.