Subhumans, capitalism and the metamorphosis of slavery - by Tiago Muniz Cavalcanti

Slavery, servitude and other forms of compulsory labor are part of the history of ancient and pre-modern societies. But how can we explain the permanence of this type of oppression and violence in contemporary times? In this work, labor attorney Tiago Cavalcanti makes an impactful reflection on the various faces of labor exploitation in different social configurations, with emphasis on current capitalist society. Going beyond legal analysis, the book proposes a critical look at the historical trajectory of human work and seeks alternatives that enable a dignified and truly free life for everyone. In the first of the three sections that make up the work, Cavalcanti examines the absence of freedom and the denial of humanity in pre-capitalist societies. The second section is dedicated to the analysis of labor exploitation in contemporary societies. Here, the author undertakes a classification of the working class into two categories, the semi-free and the sub-human, according to the levels of freedom and humanity present in current work relations, investigating the metamorphoses that gave a new social shape to the slavery of once. In the third section, the reflection points to the future. Without the intention of proposing closed and miraculous solutions, the work opens a window to the creation of a tomorrow of freedom and humanity and the guarantee of a dignified existence for the entire global community.