- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804771689
- eISBN:
- 9780804775809
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804771689.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter focuses on the transformation of Volta Redonda, the site of the National Steel Company's (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional; CSN) integrated steel mill, from an economically depressed ...
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This chapter focuses on the transformation of Volta Redonda, the site of the National Steel Company's (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional; CSN) integrated steel mill, from an economically depressed village into South America's most modern industrial city. Brazil relied on its physical infrastructure and engineering expertise, and a large number of migrant workers, to build the steel complex. The chapter looks at the workers' origins, the CSN's labor regime during construction, and labor turnover. Volta Redonda became a city of mineiros, mostly men and women from rural backgrounds who considered themselves simple country people, or arigós. A look at living conditions and the disciplinary regime shows why the workers who stayed in the city regarded the construction years to be a time of sacrifice.Less
This chapter focuses on the transformation of Volta Redonda, the site of the National Steel Company's (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional; CSN) integrated steel mill, from an economically depressed village into South America's most modern industrial city. Brazil relied on its physical infrastructure and engineering expertise, and a large number of migrant workers, to build the steel complex. The chapter looks at the workers' origins, the CSN's labor regime during construction, and labor turnover. Volta Redonda became a city of mineiros, mostly men and women from rural backgrounds who considered themselves simple country people, or arigós. A look at living conditions and the disciplinary regime shows why the workers who stayed in the city regarded the construction years to be a time of sacrifice.
