Abstract
The article focuses on the need of a conceptual update in the debate about the historical process of formation of the working class. It starts from the analysis of the references that influenced the development of labor history in Brazil in the 1980s. It examines aspects still little explored in the works of E. P. Thompson and discusses in what extent they remain updated. Finally, it systematizes contributions by several authors that search to redefine approaches of the issue in order to face new political and conceptual challenges.
Keywords:
class formation; workers; E. P. Thompson