The Global Perspective of Urban Labor in Mexico City, 1910–1929 by Fender, Stephan;

Short description:

This book examines the global entanglement of Mexican labor during the Mexican Revolution and its implications on the everyday life of workers, their construction of identity, and the constitution of their movement, providing new insights on the grand-narratives of Globalization and Revolution.

Long description:

The Global Perspective of Urban Labor in Mexico City, 1910–1929 examines the global entanglement of the Mexican labor movement during the Mexican Revolution. It describes how global influences made their entry into labor culture through the cinema, the theater, and labor festivals as well as into the development of consumption patterns and advertisement. It further shows how the young labor movement constituted its discourse and invented its tradition at meetings and in the columns of newspapers.

The local conditions constitute the framework for the examination of Mexican labor’s perspectives on and engagement with contemporary events of global significance. Thereby, this book demonstrates how workers turned to the global context in search of guidance and role models, embracing global developments and narratives. It also reveals the differentiations from this context in order to create a unique local identity.

This approach allows new perspectives on the role of a neglected revolutionary actor and on the influence of global developments in a revolution that has been predominantly interpreted from a national point of view. It shows the way global ideas were brought to life in the framework of revolutionary Mexico City – providing new insights into the grand-narratives of Globalization and Revolution.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction  2. The World of Urban Labor  3. The Outward Perspective  4. Elements of Identity  5. The Question of Belonging  6. Conclusion