Race, Work, and Social Inequality Reconfiguring Precarity in the Brazilian Labor Market

This article examines the racialized structure of the Brazilian labor market and its role in reproducing durable social inequalities. Drawing on recent data from the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE), it shows how racial hierarchies remain embedded in occupational segregation, income disparities, and unequal access to opportunities. The analysis focuses on call centers and app-based delivery services – highly precarious sectors disproportionately staffed by racialized workers – highlighting four mechanisms of durable inequality: exploitation, opportunity hoarding, emulation, and adaptation. Mobilizing the concept of the precariat, the article characterizes workers facing chronic insecurity, unstable employment, low wages, weak social protection, and indebtedness. Despite periods of economic stability, racial inequalities in income and mobility persist. The cases also reveal emerging forms of collective action and identity formation at the intersection of class, race, and gender, underscoring the need for sustained, multidimensional policies to confront structural racism and socioeconomic exclusion.