Unequal Development and Labour in Brazil

This book is about unequal development and labour in Brazil, with particular reference to the economic and social development of the Northeast region, which has suffered persistent disadvantage.

It combines a historical approach, which shows how economic, social and political institutions have been restructured over time, with an analysis of changes in the pattern of production, employment, unemployment and inequality up to the present day. It draws on detailed case studies to examine the connections between local and national production systems and critical labour market outcomes such as informality in employment, precarious work and disparities between genders, races and regions. The case of the Brazilian Northeast illustrates processes, relationships and policy debates that are important not only in Brazil but also elsewhere.

The book will be of interest to teachers, researchers and students in economics, sociology, labour and development; public officials and policy-makers; the international development community; and the general public interested in Latin American affairs. They will find in the book an original and systematic analysis of the factors underlying unequal development and how they respond to different policy regimes and suggestions about the issues that need to be addressed in the future.

Author Biography

Gerry Rodgers has a DPhil in Economic Development from the University of Sussex (1972) and an MA (Cantab) in Economics and Mathematics. He worked at the International Labour Organization in a variety of research and management positions, including Director of the International Institute for Labour Studies. He has mainly worked on poverty, inequality and employment, especially in India and in Latin America, and has published widely on these issues. Presently he is a collaborator of the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Labour and Public Policy at the Federal University of Paraíba in João Pessoa, and is also Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

Roberto Véras de Oliveira has a doctorate in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (2002) and undertook post-doctoral work during 2015–2016 at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (Los Angeles). He is presently Full Professor at the Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa. His research is concerned with the Sociology of Labour, Political Sociology and Economic Sociology. He is a Scholar of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and a member of its Social Sciences Advisory Committee, and a member of the Coordinating Group of the Network for Studies and Interdisciplinary Monitoring of the Labour Reform.

Janine Rodgers has a Degree in Economics from Paris (1966), an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex (1969) and a Certificate in Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (1982). She worked for the International Labour Organization on labour market inequalities, on gender issues and on crises. She has been Deputy Executive Secretary of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). She is currently a collaborator of the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Labour and Public Policy at the Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.