Social Inequalities in Argentina and Chile: A Comparative Analysis of Welfare Models, Labour Policies, and Occupational Trajectories from a Biographical Perspective

MUÑIZ TERRA, LETICIA; RUBILAR, GABRIELA

Journal of Politics in Latin America

Sage

Año: 2022 p. 1 - 24

1866-802X

The article analyses the configurations of social inequality in Argentina and Chile between2000 and 2019 through a comparative biographical approach that combines three dimensions:macro-social (welfare models), meso-social (labour policies), and micro-social (occupationaltrajectories). In Argentina, welfare schemes oscillated between moderate protectionismand a liberal approach; in Chile, a movement was observed between revised neoliberalismand a protectionist liberal welfare approach. Regarding labour policies, a transition fromemployment regulation to self-management was observed in the Argentine job market; inChile, a meritocratic discourse remains that advocates for worker self-management, regardless of changes in welfare schemes. These differences have no appreciable impact on the configuration of class trajectories, which are similar in both countries. While the service classe generally construct advantageous trajectories, the intermediate classes are ambivalentlyaffected by crises and insufficient protection and the working classes accumulate disadvantagessince they are conditioned by welfare schemes and social-labour policies