Youth and Fast Food Restaurants: the Tough Face of Flexible Labor

Authors

  • Sílvia Maria Fávero Arend UDESC - Florianópolis - SC
  • Antero Maximiliano Dias dos Reis UDESC - Florianópolis - SC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S1414-49802009000200003

Abstract

This study analyzes how labor relations operate in the world of youth based on the reported experiences of male and female workers in the McDonald’s fast food restaurants in the city of Florianópolis from 2000 - 2007. It was found that the production and service system in this sector is guided by Fordist and Toyotist strategies. This fast food system seeks to forge a certain kind of worker, understood as “multifunctional,” “interchangeable” and “discardable” to the degree that, under the euphemism of flexibilization, it utilizes labor in the quantity, place and time desired. To do so, specific training is conducted in which the high turnover of these attendants does not make the business of the fast food restaurants unviable.

Author Biographies

Sílvia Maria Fávero Arend, UDESC - Florianópolis - SC

possui graduação em História pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (1988), mestrado em História pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1994) e doutorado em História pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (2005). Atualmente é professora do Departamento de História da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC).

Antero Maximiliano Dias dos Reis, UDESC - Florianópolis - SC

Possui Mestrado em História pela Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina com área de concentração em História do Tempo Presente e graduação em História pela Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina. Participa do Laboratório de Relações de Gênero e Família (LABGEF/UDESC), integrando a pesquisa CNPq: EDITAL MCT/CNPq/MS-SCTIE-DECIT/CT-Saúde nº 022/2007. Tem experiência na área de História com ênfase em História da Juventude, pesquisando os seguintes temas: trabalho, família, grupos urbanos, relações de gênero, experiência urbana e migrações internas.

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Published

2009-01-01

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2009): Dossiê: As configurações do trabalho na sociedade capitalista

Section

Research

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