Workers before the tribunal

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Law and justice are examined from a social and global historical perspective. The primary aim is to challenge traditional binary oppositions between corporativist and contractualist models of labor relations. The corporativist view suggests greater autonomy for the working class in advocating for better labor conditions, while the contractualist perspective emphasizes state involvement in promoting labor rights. Teixeira da Silva presents three key arguments. First, he illustrates that the Brazilian labor justice system established during the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship (1930-1945), though inspired by Mussolini's legal framework, diverges significantly from the Fascist Magistratura del Lavoro. Second, through comparative analysis with countries like the United States, France, Germany, and Australia, he argues that there was significant exchange of ideas and practices, leading to a complex adoption of international labor rights concepts in Brazil. Third, he shows that litigation in labor courts was a vital strategy for the Brazilian working-class movement, alongside strikes and other forms of resistance. This challenges views that regard labor justice as merely a weak alternative to class action. The "jurisdictionalization" of labor relations played a crucial role in shaping the Brazilian working class, based on extensive research of labor litigation cases from the tumultuous period leading up to the 1964 civil-military coup th