Sistemas de información “desde abajo”. El caso del Registro Nacional de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular argentino

This article examines how data contribute to enacting the social world and disputing dominant definitions of labor. Drawing on a qualitative methodology, it explores the construction and uses of the technical devices that generate such data, focusing on the case of Argentina’s National Registry of Workers in the Popular Economy (RENATEP), the first sociodemographic and labor information system developed for the country’s popular economy. Created “from below” in response to demands for recognition and protection raised by grassroots organizations, RENATEP reconfigures the boundaries of what is understood as work and who counts as a worker. The analysis shows how this tool challenges conventional notions of efficiency, labor, and social policy intervention rooted in poverty assistance. It also opens new possibilities for thinking about statistics and digital governance from an emancipatory perspective.