Vale S.A. and Natura & Co.: corporate strategies, labour and union relations in Brazil-based transnational corporations

• Grant number: 23/03095-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Luiz Coltro Antunes
• Grantee: Thiago Trindade de Aguiar
• Supervisor: Alfredo Saad Filho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: King's College London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/26020-4 - Vale S.A. & Natura: an analysis of the transnationalization of two Brazilian corporations, BP.PD

Abstract

The project describes the activities proposed for a one-year internship at King's College London (Department of International Development/School of Global Affairs), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alfredo Saad Filho, with the support of BEPE/FAPESP. The research deals with the constitution of transnational corporations (TNCs) of Brazilian origin and their effects on labor relations in Brazil and abroad through a theoretical front, focused on discussing the theories of the "Global Capitalism School", as well as an empirical front, focused on the comparative analysis of corporate, labor and union relations strategies at Vale S.A. and Natura & Co., under the inspiration of the "extended case method", focused on ethnographic research of global multi-situated processes. During the internship, we intend to conduct further interviews with workers, union members and managers of the aforementioned companies, since both have important operations in Britain, incorporating the observations in this country to the analysis of the corporate strategy of TNCs carried out previously in Brazil and Canada. (AU)