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Brazil is an intriguing example of social inequality and a labour market where the lack of job security is predominant. For some analysts, the country is considered as having anticipated the recent dynamics of contemporary capitalism, which are currently felt even in countries where welfare regimes are institutionalised. The metaphor of « Brazilianization » refers in particular to the intensification of periods of unemployment. The article discusses whether such an allusive category is pertinent. To this end, it makes use of the quantitative analyses of employment trajectories in Brazil and France. If, in both countries, employment ties are indeed weakened, this is not to say that the two phenomena can be considered identical ; they correspond to separate constructions of labour relations and take expression in equally different forms.