Fields of Post-Abolition: Labor and ‘Black’ Experience among Coffee Workers in Rio de Janeiro

André Cicalo

doi:10.1590/1806-93472015v35n69006

Fields of Post-Abolition: Labor and ‘Black’ Experience among Coffee Workers in Rio de Janeiro

André Cicalo

Brazil Institute

LABHOI - Laboratório de História Oral e Imagem. Universidade Federal Fluminense

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Abstract

This article explores whether and how signs of an Afro-Brazilian experience surfaced during the life of SCEC, a trade union of coffee carriers and packers (carregadores e ensacadores de café) that flourished in the port of Rio de Janeiro between 1931 and 1964. In spite of the large presence of Afro-descendant workers at SCEC, black legacy was largely absent in the official discourse of the trade union, which gave emphasis instead to class, nationalism and other color-blind values. This fact is not completely disconnected from the socio-political context of Brazil in that epoch, dominated by the system of labor politics (trabalhismo) and the ideology of racial democracy. However, I point out that markers of a 'black field' were not completely alien to SCEC. They still survive in the memories of ensacadores, and are reflected in the racial patterns that have traditionally characterized the docklands of Rio de Janeiro.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	101-130
Journal	Revista Brasileira de História
Volume	35
Issue number	69
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-93472015v35n69006
Publication status	Published - Jun 2015

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title = "Fields of Post-Abolition: Labor and {\textquoteleft}Black{\textquoteright} Experience among Coffee Workers in Rio de Janeiro",

abstract = "This article explores whether and how signs of an Afro-Brazilian experience surfaced during the life of SCEC, a trade union of coffee carriers and packers (carregadores e ensacadores de caf{\'e}) that flourished in the port of Rio de Janeiro between 1931 and 1964. In spite of the large presence of Afro-descendant workers at SCEC, black legacy was largely absent in the official discourse of the trade union, which gave emphasis instead to class, nationalism and other color-blind values. This fact is not completely disconnected from the socio-political context of Brazil in that epoch, dominated by the system of labor politics (trabalhismo) and the ideology of racial democracy. However, I point out that markers of a 'black field' were not completely alien to SCEC. They still survive in the memories of ensacadores, and are reflected in the racial patterns that have traditionally characterized the docklands of Rio de Janeiro.",

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AB - This article explores whether and how signs of an Afro-Brazilian experience surfaced during the life of SCEC, a trade union of coffee carriers and packers (carregadores e ensacadores de café) that flourished in the port of Rio de Janeiro between 1931 and 1964. In spite of the large presence of Afro-descendant workers at SCEC, black legacy was largely absent in the official discourse of the trade union, which gave emphasis instead to class, nationalism and other color-blind values. This fact is not completely disconnected from the socio-political context of Brazil in that epoch, dominated by the system of labor politics (trabalhismo) and the ideology of racial democracy. However, I point out that markers of a 'black field' were not completely alien to SCEC. They still survive in the memories of ensacadores, and are reflected in the racial patterns that have traditionally characterized the docklands of Rio de Janeiro.

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Fields of Post-Abolition: Labor and ‘Black’ Experience among Coffee Workers in Rio de Janeiro

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