Abstract

CONDE, Soraya Franzoni. The culture of child labor as a current expression of (neo)colonialism. Educação. Santa Maria [online]. 2024, vol.49, e73497.  Epub Sep 24, 2025. ISSN 1984-6444.  https://doi.org/10.5902/1984644473497.

This article discusses how the persistence of child labor, especially in Brazil and the United States of America, constitutes a current facet of neocolonialism. Cultivated as an educational and dignifying activity, exploited child labor persists and is naturalized as an educational activity. School, legislation and religion, making the working class come to love and naturalize what in past times was understood as torture and punishment, acted as fundamental means of forming a new cultural form: the love of work. Initially, the article discusses how the culture of work is historically founded, and then argues against the idealist and postmodern explanations that naturalize it. It understands that culture has a material basis and is linked to the production and social reproduction of life. Methodologically, we carried out a bibliographic review on culture, work and child labor. In addition, testimonials were collected from child workers and their families in Brazil and the USA. We also analyzed data from IBGE and Human Rights Watch. The research concludes with the need to refound a new culture for a new society that, based on other social and economic relations, allows the working class to free itself from what dominates and exploits it.

Keywords : child labor; culture; education.

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