This text illustrates how work, an activity at the center of individual's lives across society in Latin America, has affected people and in turn been affected by other facets of daily existence. This novel approach to labor - rather than the labor movement, labor unions, and labor organizing - sets work in the context of social history in Latin America. Work, Protest, and Identity in Twentieth-Century Latin America combines a chronological approach with a topical one to clarify how work is related to other themes in daily Latin American life - themes such as gender, race, family life, ethnicity, immigration, politics, industrial and agricultural growth, and religion Relations between workers and other sectors of urban society, especially the "middle class" elements most closely associated with labor - shopkeepers, petty merchants, clerks, and secretaries - are featured prominently. This text demonstrates how women, who are an increasingly significant part of the work force in twentieth century Latin America, often guide the formation of issues that govern work problems throughout the popular sectors of society. The essays in this collection bring together original studies and published works that illustrate the tensions and conflicts between work, identity, and community in twentieth century Latin America that caused protest to take many different forms in Latin American countries, including Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile. This volume illustrates situations when work and identity combined to produce expressions of protest that struck a chord in the broader population and in doing so revealed the importance of identity issues.
