Young People in the Urban Outskirts of Brazil: Work and Collective Action

This chapter discusses the interfaces between youth, work, and collective action considering the reality of the Brazilian cities’ outskirts. It is based on the analysis of a set of studies carried out in the recent context of significant transformations in schooling, the entry in the work market, and the collective actions of young people from the working classes in the country, which also has an impact on the meanings and aspirations related to work. It highlights the relevance of research on collective actions led by young people and considers the changes these actions produce in their ways of experiencing and giving meaning to work, and also their contributions to problematizing individualizing solutions, such as entrepreneurship as a work-generating alternative for young people, especially in the context of the outskirts.