Productive centralities in the automotive industry: the territorialization of labor

Abstract

In order to increase profitability, multinational companies transform the production process, seeking labor flexibility and direct public investments in order to facilitate the movement of goods. This article attend this matter to address the industrial dynamics of the automotive sector, portraying the transformations in the territorialization of the production in this economic activity. Hence, it is important to articulate a long-term view focused on the movements suffered by the geographical gross product with another view that focus on the way in which the sector has been transforming labor relations into the work process. Both levels of analysis are articulated and reinforced in a perspective that seeks to enhance the development of urban and work sociology. With these specific trends described, it is interesting to study the development of the industrial pole of Zarate-Campana to understand the deployment of the productive forces of the Toyota and Honda companies. In methodological terms, the article analyses statistical data to determine trends on the processes of territorial reconfiguration of the industries that allow demonstrating the relocation process that produced a strong concentration and productive specialization, standing out the North Zone of Greater Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba, cities located in the corridor linked to Mercosur. Also, typologies of management of labour relations were constructed from the analysis of the content of collective labour agreements; and finally, data was collected from official reports as well as interviews, comprising the perception schemes in which they were registered.