Cigar-makers in american colonial manila: survival during structural depression in the 1920s

Abstract

this article analyses the socioeconomic relations of manila cigar-makers, who had strong bargaining power vis-à-vis management during the american colonial period. focusing on a structural economic depression which took place in the mid-1920s, the study considers the evolution of these workers' lives in terms of skills, autonomy, stratification and cohesiveness at their work sites.