Abstract

ELBERT, Rodolfo. Class and Informality in the Class Structure of Argentina: Families, employment trajectories and class identity among formal and informal proletarians (2007). Trab. soc. [online]. 2016, n.27, pp.501-515. ISSN 1514-6871.

The prevailing class analysis of Latin American societies defines informality as a class cleavage that divides the working class. In this view, labor fragmentation has created structural divisions among workers, which are translated into different life experiences, collective action dynamics and material interests of formal and informal workers (Portes, 1985; Portes y Hoffman, 2003). This article is part of a broader research aimed at testing the “class differences" hypothesis through a study of the cultural, organizing and structural links between the formal and the informal working class (Elbert, 2013). Do formal and informal workers self-identify as part of the same social class? What is the effect of ties across the informality border in the class identity of individuals in the working class? I use survey data from the “Encuesta Nacional de Estratificación Social" (CEDOP-UBA). In the study I provide evidence of strong structural connections between the formal and the informal proletariat, which include past work experiences and family ties across the formal-informal boundary. This confirms that workers' class self-identification is a consequence not only of their structural position but also of their lived experience.

Keywords : Informality; Social structure; Class identity; Argentina.

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