Work and small resistances: cunning, bargaining and negotiation

Abstract

In the last 40 years, in the Social Sciences, there has been an exponential growth of analyzes that deal, directly or indirectly, with manifestations considered as resistance practices. The term is mobilized in different meanings and contexts serving, not infrequently, as an "umbrella" concept, lacking consistency and analytical rigor. On the other hand, and given the prominence that the thematic of domination and exploration obtained in the news of ideas, speaking in "resistances" in the plural means also to shift slightly the perspective of analysis to recover an expensive aspect to social relations, the capacity of individuals. In the light of research on the daily work of sugarcane cutting in the Northeast region of Brazil, we propose to explore some of the limits and advantages of working with the concept of resistance. It is hoped, therefore, to calibrate analytical tools and modes of conceptualization that allow us to continue to formulate questions about the dramaturgy of conflicts and the various forms of contestation.