Other individuals

: workers and black associativism in the worlds of work

Abstract

The labor history produced in Brazil has undergone important changes in recent years. One of the promises of this historiographic renewal is the inclusion of black workers in the labor history. It is an issue that has been emphasized by several authors in recent years and some have gone beyond the mere defense of this conception, denouncing and calling attention, precisely, to how black workers – especially during the period of slavery – remain excluded of labor history. Thus, the objective of this article is to review the traditional interpretations that postulate a radical separation between the history of slavery and freedom and the labor history, in order to relate the experience of black workers (enslaved, freed and free) with that of the so-called “free” workers during the last decades of slavery and post-abolition. Finally, the text points out the role of black associations in the worlds of work and the investigative possibilities that this social experience can place in the thematic field.