earticle

영어

This paper examines the labor politics during the Lula government of Brazil. Since the inauguration of the Lula government in 2003, cooptation policy of the government toward labor and the moderation of the CUT, the previously combative peak labor organization, has created political hegemony of moderate labor forces in Brazil. The question is whether this change is temporary due to the moderation of CUT for political reasons or rather of a lasting nature due to the change in the strategic choice of CUT in the era of neoliberalism. This paper argues that CUT's moderation is not simply because the CUT share common historical roots with the Lula government but rather reflects the strategic choices made during 1990s which focus on the expansion of institutional participation and the alliance with other social movements to enhance its representative ability toward the state and the capital. CUT's orientation has changed from radical confrontation against the Brazilian economic system to the establishment of political hegemony of the working class.