Labour, militancy and repression at Recife: Júlia Santiago between DOPS and the Factory (1933-1956)

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between workers' militancy and repression in Recife through the path of Júlia Santiago da Conceição (1917-1988). During the democratic period (1945-1964), Pernambuco witnessed a series of political and social movements, and as a result of this effervescence would emerge, for example, communist parliamentarians, the election of Miguel Arraes as governor by the Frente do Recife (Recife Front) and the Ligas Camponesas (peasants Leagues) of Francisco Julião. Julia Santiago, however, was constantly persecuted by her bosses and arrested by Recife’s police as a result from her union activities and communist militancy. Despite being on the radar of the authorities – both factory’s and State’s – since, at least 1933, it was precisely after Estado Novo that she became the most watched and arrested. Reconstituting part of its trajectory, based on the principle of variation in the scale of analysis, it is intended to understand how militancy and repression in the workplace could coexist in the capital of Pernambuco, regardless of the current regime.

Keywords

• communism
• labor movement
• dops