Anarchist Ideology, Worker Practice: The 1917 General Strike and the Formation of São Paulo’s Working Class

Abstract

O N August 2, 1914, anarchist, socialist, and other left political organizations in the city of Sdo Paulo rallied to protest the declaration of war in Europe. The advent of the Great War had worsened already unstable conditions in Sdo Paulo, including shortages of food, price speculation, and an industrial downturn that threw 0o,ooo out of work. In this atmosphere, groups such as the Comissto Internacional contra a Guerra, Centro Socialista Internacional, Centro Libertairio, Circulo de Estudos Sociais Francisco Ferrer, and Grupo Anarquista Os Sem Paitria met in the Largo da Se (now Prala da Se) to denounce the European hemorrhage of blood promoted by capitalism. In the midst of this denunciation of the war, workers in the crowd stood up and demanded that the speakers address their problems. They wanted to know what anarchist and socialist leaders were willing to do about the shortages of goods in the markets. How did these leaders plan to combat the decreasing number of jobs, increasing work loads in the factories for those still employed, and low wages earned?' Less than three years later, however, the city's workers demonstrated great unity by launching a devastatingly effective general strike that won increased wages, price controls, and limits on factory regimes. Given the seeming antipathy between the city's workers and labor activists in 1914, what explains this later successful mobilization? Who launched this strike, and what were the forms of organization? And what did the strike gain or lose for Sdo Paulo's workers in the long run?