Bio

As a student of Social Anthropology, I took an elective course on the history of industrialization. I became increasingly interested in technology and labor issues and, for a long time, I had been an anthropologist researching factories' shop floors. I moved to Brazil to carry out graduate studies on these issues. My master dissertation research was on the effects of automation on labor skills, and my Ph.D. thesis examined the consequences of the Brazilian industrial restructuring of the 1980s and 1990s on the labor force. After concluding my Ph.D., I stayed in Brazil and started working at the Education School at the Federal University of Parana. I have taught a course on Labor and Education at the undergraduate level for several years. At the graduate program, I teach a course on Labor and Education, and another on Science, Technology and Education, which are part of an area of concentration in Technology, Labor and Education. In 2002 I spent a year at the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Columbia University. During that time, I got interested in two new subjects: the social governance of technology and the emerging field of nanotechnology. During the next two years I was more devoted to the former, while I worked at the Development Program at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, in Mexico. Upon my return to Brazil at the beginning of 2005, I began my research on nanotechnology. I have been researching the Brazilian policies for nanotechnology, the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology for developing countries and, more recently, nanotechnology implications for labor. The latter is the theme of my project during this year at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
 

Education

B.A. (1990) Anthropology, University of the Republic, Uruguay; Specialist in Economics, (1994) University of the Republic; M.A. (1996) Science and Technology Policy, State University of Campinas, Brazil; Ph.D. (2000) Science and Technology Policy, State University of Campinas, Brazil
 

Experience

  • Adjunct Professor, School of Education. Federal University of Parana, Brazil, 1999-2003 and 2005 - present
  • Research Professor, Development Studies Program, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, México, 2003-2005
  • Assistant Professor, International Relations, University of the Republic, Uruguay, 1992-1994

Expertise

Technology; labor and education; social studies of science and technology

Project Summary

Nanotechnology is often presented as a disruptive technology that will transform industrial production and society at large. A growing body of literature is directed to the study of the economic, social and ethical implications of nanotechnology. Little attention has been paid, however, to its implications for work and employment. The purpose of this research is twofold: a) to analyze in what ways nanotechnology innovations materialized in existing products may affect work and employment, and b) to examine perspectives of trade unions, social organizations and NGOs concerning these issues. Advancing knowledge on incipient labor changes related to nanotechnology diffusion is essential to inform early public policy responses regarding nanotechnology development, employment and training.

Major Publications

  • Flexibles y Disciplinad: Los trabajadores brasileños frente a la reestructuración productiva. [Flexible and Disciplined: Brazilian workers after industrial restructuring]. Mexico City: M. A. Porrúa, 2004, 328 p.
  • Invernizzi, Noela; Foladori, Guillermo. "Nanotechnology and the Developing World: Will Nanotechnology Overcome Poverty or Widen Disparities?" Nanotechnology, Law & Business 2(3), 2005, art. 11. Reprinted as a book chapter in: Johnson, Debora and Wetmore, Jameson (Eds.) Technology and Society. Building our Sociotechnical Future. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2008, 485-498.
  • "Science Policy and Social Inclusion: Advances and Limits of Brazilian Nanotechnology Policy," in: Cozzens, Susan; Wetmore, Jameson (Eds.) Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development. New York: Springer. Forthcoming, 2010.