“If you are not a man, you should better work on something else”: risk, masculinity and social class among Paraguayan workers in the construction industry of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between the representations of occupational hazard that prevail among Paraguayans workers in the construction industry of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires and the process of exploitation of their labor force. It begins by considering that the notions of risk emanating from institutions and public health agencies report an “expert knowledge” that contrasts markedly with the representations that workers built through their everyday experience. Furthermore, it is postulated that the discourses and practices that sustain workers about the risks involved in work are linked to broader representations of masculinity and class, resulting in schemes that are functional to the production process. From ethnographic data, we will argue that this situation is a central dimension to explaining the high accident rates and informality that characterize the sector.