https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018800233
Work, Employment and Society
1–12
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0950017018800233
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The Revival of Labour
Movement Studies in
Argentina: Old and Lost
Agendas
Maurizio Atzeni
Centre for Labour Relations, National Research Council of Argentina (CEIL/CONICET), Argentina
Juan Grigera
Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina; National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET),
Argentina
Abstract
In recent years sociological research on labour in Argentina has re-flourished. This revival has
seen a turn towards the Anglo-Saxon and international traditions of workplace and trade union
studies, but it has been generally one-sided, focusing on the relatively successful experiences of
trade unions’ organized workers in formal sector workplaces. This has represented a considerable
departure from the pre-2001 crisis research’s agenda that focused on unemployment, poverty and
the new forms of community based organizations generated by workers in non-work situations.
The return to the institutionalized sphere in the analysis of work issues can be partially explained
by the changes in the economic and political environment alongside the return to ‘normality’ of
the capital–labour relationship. However, it also signals a tendency in labour studies, in Argentina
and beyond, of using the union form as the main organizational frame of reference in the analyses
of conflict and workers’ representation.
Keywords
Argentina, labour movement, labour studies, sociological research, workers, workers’
organization
Corresponding author:
Maurizio Atzeni, Centre for Labour Relations, National Research Council of Argentina (CEIL/CONICET),
Saavedra 15, 1083 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Email: matzeniwork@gmail.com
800233WES 0 0 10.1177/0950017018800233Work, employment and societyAtzeni and Grigera
research-article 2018
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