On-the-job training in the organized rural popular economy of Concordia, Argentina

This research article aims to inquire into the ways in which on-the-job training is formed in the organized rural popular economy. Specifically, we address the rural branch of the Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos (Excluded Workers Movement, MTE for its initals ins Spanish) in the city of Concordia, located in the northeast of the province of Entre Rios, Argentina. We focused on three dimensions of on-the-job training that we constructed for the analysis: the intergenerational component, the urban-rural articulation, and the union-based organizational framework. The research was based on a qualitative methodological design. Fieldwork was carried out under a hybrid modality (face-to-face and virtual) that combined in-depth interviews, walkthroughs and observation of daily situations, as well as audiovisual recordings. The conclusions indicate that on-the-job training is formed from different dimensions that involve specific types of knowledge (technical, political, trade union) and scales that include the productive unit, the rural branch and the movement at local and national level, being the organizational framework an aspect that mediates such knowledge and scales.