Scielo RSS http://www.scielo.org.co/rss.php?pid=2011-032420080001&lang=es vol. num. 1 lang. es http://www.scielo.org.co/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://www.scielo.org.co http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100002&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es The changes, that during the last three decades have affected the labor laws and the protections associated with them, have created a growing sensation of insecurity in western societies. Professor Castel, taking as example the French situation, examines this phenomenon and proposes, in the first place, a basic distinction between civil insecurity and social insecurity. Then the author focuses on the latter type of insecurity and reflects on the economic and social changes that are involved in the current preponderance of flexible jobs. This article, therefore, calls of attention to the risks involved in a unilateral and simplistic view of society and the State in addition to the very important role played by social property in the development of a true democracy. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100003&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Unemployment and low coverage of social security are two of the main worries expressed by Colombians. This article explores the consequences created by the social protection system in Colombia, in which most of the benefits are linked to employment in the formal sector of the economy. In order to do this, the author presents a diagnosis of the main characteristics of the Colombian labor market, highlighting inefficiency in the use of labor resources, high security conditions of formal employees and stability of real wages. An integral reform, that simultaneously covers the tax, pension and social protection systems, is a real possibility to overcome the problems caused by these characteristics. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100004&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es What is a good employment? Today's flexibility of labor gives this question a new relevance. This article examines national statistics databases to analyze the quality of employment in Colombia from a gender perspective. The author pays special attention to the development of equity between men and women regarding their wages, social protection and number of working hours, by relating these variables to the increasing preponderance of short term contracts. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100005&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es The article explains the tensions in juridical standards of social protection in Colombia. These standards are inscribed in the different regulatory paradigms whose content is defined by the State through its legislative, juridical, and administrative agencies. Based on the evaluation of labor and constitutional experts, the article concludes that these paradigms of social law, in spite of their internal tensions, are those which offer the most satisfactory answers to the needs of the Colombian social, economic and cultural inclusion–especially for the most vulnerable. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100006&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es In recent years, monitoring systems have been implemented to verify the application of corporate codes of conduct of labor conditions. This article places the codes in a wider debate about global governance and defends a participative approach to international labor standards in order to give workers a deeper awareness of their rights and power. Following an ethnographic research in clothing sweatshops in Mexico and Guatemala, the author explores the effects of code supervision on the empowerment of workers and on the labor conditions of global factories in addition to highlighting the political and institutional strategies that support the protection of labor rights. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100007&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Social marginality was not absent in XIX century Colombian society. Therefore, the need of an organized response to this kind of problems arose. This reflection examines the period in which Colombian social assistance emerges and takes form. For this purpose the following article presents the main orientations and discussions that guided the various approaches to social work: charity, public assistance and social action. The creation process of urban institutions, both public and private, and their different forms of assistance is also presented. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100008&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Nowadays, social intervention faces certain contradictions which come from the wide diversity of objectives, actors, principles and practical elements that are necessary for its implementation. The author examines here some of these tensions from the perspective of the historical formation of social intervention, and the changes that its actors and concepts have undergone. The article also presents some of the more formal models in the intervention process and reflections on these from renowned authors on the subject. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100009&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Despite the importance of social intervention in today's world, reflections about its nature are not frequently found. This article discusses the implications for social intervention that arise from the discourses regarding an ''intervened subject'' given his/her excluded condition. In order to do this, the article describes the circumstances and contexts in which exclusion appears and three forms this condition takes in social intervention discourses. The article also explains some theoretical fissures in these discourses, which invite discussion and reflection on the real impact of social intervention as a vehicle for social change. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100010&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es The long and complex Colombian conflict has generated, in the different regions of the country, organizations and projects that propose alternatives for a peaceful coexistence and a harmonious development with social inclusion. The Magdalena Medio region has one of the most solid projects of this type. The author of this article shares her experience with the project and presents the main concepts and methodological features that have allowed the sustainability and expansion of this collective effort for several years. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-03242008000100011&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es With the dissolution of traditional communities and fragmentation of governmental institutions, social work faces more complex challenges and, therefore, needs to reflect on its basic presuppositions. In this sense, social intervention becomes a way to fix what has been broken and to recover coherence in the lives of the subjects it works with. This article presents the concepts and practices that are needed for these tasks and emphasizes the close link between social intervention and public policies.