Hard Times: The Formation of the Working Class in Late‐Nineteenth‐Century Buenos Aires

Abstract

This article provides an assessment of labor unrest in Buenos Aires between 1888 and 1896, a relatively short period of time where substantial changes took place and the local labor movement was shaped. We address the formation of the working class with a perspective that moves away from unilateral sociological or economical perspectives, as well as those that understand it as a mere political study of unions and political parties. Instead, our goal is to link the country´s economic changes with both the cycles of class struggle and the development of the political currents of the left. We intend to contribute not only to recent labor history scholarship, but also to the education of current labor activists interested in learning about the lessons of past struggles.