Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the labour movement that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of production and the economy at large through social ownership.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of the Brazilian GDP.
The Brazilian Communist Party, originally the Communist Party of Brazil, is a communist party in Brazil, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th-century history despite the relatively small number of members. A factional dispute led to the formation of PCdoB in the 1960s, though both communist parties were united in opposition to the Brazilian military government that ruled from 1964 to 1985. But with the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism circa 1990, the party lost power and international support. An internal coup in 1992 divided the party and formed a new party, called Popular Socialist Party, using the former identification number of the PCB, 23. That party has since moved towards the centre and now goes by the name Cidadania.
Delfim Moreira da Costa Ribeiro was a Brazilian politician who served as tenth president of Brazil.
The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, formerly known as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZabFed), is a platformist–especifista anarchist political organisation in South Africa, based primarily in Johannesburg. The word zabalaza means "struggle" or "active rebellion" in isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele. Initially, as ZabFed, it was a federation of pre-existing collectives, mainly in Soweto and Johannesburg. It is now a unitary organisation based on individual applications for membership, describing itself as a "federation of individuals". Historically the majority of members have been people of colour. Initially the ZACF had sections in both South Africa and Swaziland. The two sections were split in 2007, but the Swazi group faltered in 2008. Currently the ZACF also recruits in Zimbabwe. Members have experienced oppression in South Africa and Swaziland.
Anarchism was an influential contributor to the social politics of the First Brazilian Republic. During the epoch of mass migrations of European labourers at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, anarchist ideas started to spread, particularly amongst the country’s labour movement. Along with the labour migrants, many Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German political exiles arrived, many holding anarchist or anarcho-syndicalist ideas. Some did not come as exiles but rather as a type of political entrepreneur, including Giovanni Rossi's anarchist commune, the Cecília Colony, which lasted few years but at one point consisted of 200 individuals.
The Argentine anarchist movement was the strongest such movement in South America. It was strongest between 1890 and the start of a series of military governments in 1930. During this period, it was dominated by anarchist communists and anarcho-syndicalists. The movement's theories were a hybrid of European anarchist thought and local elements, just as it consisted demographically of both European immigrant workers and native Argentines.
Vila Isabel is a middle-class neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known for being one of the cradles of samba in Brazil, it is located in the subprefecture of Grande Tijuca, its music-themed Boulevard 28 de Setembro celebrates the neighborhood's long musical heritage. The neighborhood was named in honor of Brazilian Princess Isabel, renowned for abolishing slavery in Brazil. It is home to Unidos de Vila Isabel, one of the most traditional samba schools in Rio de Janeiro.
1917–1919 Brazil strike movement was a Brazilian industry and commerce strike starting in July 1917 in São Paulo, during World War I, promoting by anarchist-inspired workers' organizations allied with the libertarian press. From 1917 to 1919, a large strike movement shook the First Brazilian Republic, concentrated in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It culminated in several general strikes in 1917 and an attempted anarchist uprising in November 1918. The 1917 general strike is considered the first general strike in the labor history of Brazil, and marks the beginning of the period known as the five red years.
Anarchism in Portugal first appeared in the form of organized groups in the mid-1880s. It was present from the first steps of the workers' movement, revolutionary unionism and anarcho-syndicalism had a lasting influence on the General Confederation of Labour, founded in 1919.
Anarchism in East Timor has its roots in the country's history as a penal colony, when many anarchists were deported there. The movement eventually evolved into an anti-colonial struggle against succeeding occupying powers: first the Portuguese Empire, then the Japanese Empire and the Indonesian New Order, before the country finally achieved independence in 2002.
Domingos Passos was an anarchist and syndicalist activist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A black man, he was a son of two ex-slaves freed right after the abolition. His birth date is unknown and there is almost no records about his early years. Working as a carpenter, he became involved with the civil construction workers union and was converted to anarchism. Soon, Passos stood out for his activism and rhetoric, becoming one of his union's leaders. He was also elected to represent the civil construction workers at the Third Brazilian Workers' Congress, in 1920.
The Brazilian Workers' Confederation was the first national trade union center in Brazil, founded in 1908, under the basis of agreement of the First Brazilian Workers' Congress of 1906. Through its newspaper, A Voz do Trabalhador, it allowed a certain coordination and exchange of information within the Brazilian worker movement at the national level. The COB was formed by national industry and craft federations, local and state unions, unions isolated in places where there were no federations and non-federated industries.
Elvira Boni de Lacerda was a political activist and strike leader. She defined herself as the "lady of the last century". She was the daughter of Italian immigrants from Cremona, Angelo Boni and Tercila Aciratti Boni. She had her first contact with socialist ideas at home, with her father who was a metal worker, and her brothers. At the age of eight, she moved with her family to the city of Rio de Janeiro in the Cordovil neighborhood. Elvira had to leave school to take care of one of her siblings who fell ill and, therefore, did not complete primary school. At age 12, she started working as an apprentice in a sewing workshop. She married Olgier Lacerda, one of the founders of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), in which she also participated in its activities, but without joining.
A Voz do Trabalhador was an anarchist periodical published in Brazil whose main theme was the relationship between anarchism and syndicalism. In addition to this issue, others such as police repression, the high cost of living, solidarity between workers and even libertarian theater and literature were discussed in its pages.
Neno Vasco was a poet, lawyer, journalist, anarchist, writer, and ardent revolutionary syndicalist activist born in Penafiel, Portugal. He emigrated to Brazil where he established a series of projects with the anarchists of that country. He was the author of the Portuguese translation of The Internationale, which is more widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries, and was said to have been one of the most important figures of Anarchism in Portugal.
Events in the year 2022 in Brazil.
The First Brazilian Workers' Congress was a meeting of workers that took place between 15 and 22 April 1906 at the headquarters of Centro Galego, in Rio de Janeiro, then the Federal Capital of Brazil. The Congress was the first initiative in the sense of organizing the working class at a national level in Brazil, and was attended by 43 delegates representing 28 workers unions from different parts of the country, but mainly from the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The congressional resolutions showed an evident influence of revolutionary syndicalism among the delegates present, who endorsed the political neutrality of the unions, federalism, direct action and the general strike. The Congress also laid the foundations for the agreement of the Brazilian Workers' Confederation, the first union institution of national scope, but which would only begin its activities in 1908.
Abílio de Nequete was a Lebanese-Brazilian barber, teacher and political activist. Born into a family of Orthodox Christians, he immigrated to Brazil at the age of 14, in 1903, settling in the city of São Feliciano, a district of Encruzilhada do Sul. There he became a peddler, working together with his father, with whom he had a conflicting relationship, even politically, since his father was a federalist and Abílio joined the Republican Party.
The Adolfo Gordo Law was a measure to repress labor movements in São Paulo at the beginning of the 20th century. Among other provisions, it proposed the expulsion of foreigners involved in strikes with the objective of repressing anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist militants. It was suggested by Adolfo Gordo, a federal deputy from São Paulo, and approved in 1907. According to historian Claudio Batalha in his book O Movimento Operário na Primeira República, under this law, 132 foreigners were expelled in the first year, a high number compared to the 556 expulsions between 1908 and 1921. Later, in 1919, came the Law on Accidents at Work, which guaranteed compensation for workers, laborers or apprentices in the event of injuries in services using machinery.
