New and old forms of degradation of work in the sugar cane agro-business in the Administrative Regions of Presidente Prudente and Ribeirão Preto – São Paulo State

Author(s)

Maria Joseli Barreto

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Presidente Prudente. 2018-07-26.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia. Presidente Prudente
• Defense date: 2018-06-28
• Advisor: Antonio Thomaz Junior

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the implications of the productive restructuring of capital, in the scope of the reproduction of sugarcane agro-business, in the Administrative Regions of Presidente Prudente and Ribeirão Preto, located in São Paulo State. In this context, it was sought to investigate the ways in which this segment acts in the territorial dynamics, in the regional arrangements and in the modes of organization and control of the processes of production and work. In the methodology, we sought to combine bibliographic review with survey and analysis of secondary data, empirical research with semi-structured interviews, field diary and documentary analysis. The results show that the recent changes in sugarcane production, marked by the mechanization of sugarcane harvesting and planting, are a reflection of the actions and strategies of capital, in search of its constant process of reproduction and accumulation. For the capitalist, the technification of the productive process of the raw material represents, above all, the generation of surplus value. Thus, among the strategies incorporated in the forms of organization and control of work, we emphasize mechanisms that lead to the intensification and prolongation of the working day. It was also evidenced that the technification of the processes of production and work, added to the forms of organization and control intrinsic to Taylorism, Fordism, Toyotism and flexible accumulation, enables the holders of the means of production to maintain mechanisms for subjectivity capture and overexploitation of labor as the main support for the reproduction of sugarcane agro-business. In fact, the ways and the artifices used in this exploration process have changed. In addition, it was observed that the technological innovations invisible the real working conditions, experienced by the workers who currently sell their workforce in the domains of the sugarcane agro-business, while hiding the reality experienced by a large part of the workers who were excluded from the sugarcane plantations. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/08022-6 - New and old ways of degradation of the work in sugarcane agro-hydro-business on administrative regions in Presidente Prudente - São Paulo State
• Grantee: Maria Joseli Barreto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate