For Social Peace in Brazil: Industrialists and the Remaking of the Working Class in São Paulo, 1920-1964

by Barbara Weinstein

Book Overview

This book is the first major study of industrialists and social policy in Latin America. Barbara Weinstein examines the vast array of programs sponsored by a new generation of Brazilian industrialists who sought to impose on the nation their vision of a rational, hierarchical, and efficient society. She explores in detail two national agencies founded in the 1940s (SENAI and SESI) that placed vocational training and social welfare programs directly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807846023
• ISBN13: 9780807846025
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for the study of labor relations

Barbara Weinstein's study of the Sao Paulo, Brazil working class covers much more than labor relations in that city. As US and European social scientists and labor historians seek to broaden their understanding of labor/management relations in other parts of the world, they will find this an invaluable source. Extremely well-documented, with evidence from oral histories, interviews, newspapers, government documents and secondary sources, Weinstein tells the story of a ruling elite that tried to tame its workers in novel ways. In everything from cooking classes for women to soccer and volleyball games for male and female workers, the Sao Paulo manufacturers tried to lure their workers away from the anarchist meeting hall, or even the local bar, and into increasing productivity (and profits) for the company. They succeeded in some ways, but mainly failed. Sao Paulo's workers are some of the most militant in the world today. This is a fascinating story that should be! told in every labor, urban or social history class.