Unamo-nos, pois, e criemos uma sociedade”: cultura associativa, formação e organização da classe trabalhadora em Manaus (1869-1930)

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the formation and organization process of the working class in Manaus between 1869 and 1930, considering the particularities of associativism within the rubber economy. It starts from the observation that, despite the advances in the social historiography of labor in recent decades, the Amazon region remains a largely unexplored frontier, especially regarding the organizational forms of urban workers. The main objective was to understand how workers developed their own forms of solidarity, resistance, and collective belonging, based both on mutualist practices and mobilization strategies. The research is situated within the field of Social History of Labor and engages with authors such as E. P. Thompson, Beatriz Loner, Claudio Batalha, and Silvia Petersen. Methodologically, it is a qualitative and documentary investigation, based on content analysis of a wide range of primary sources, such as statutes, minutes, reports, periodicals, legal proceedings, wills, and inventories from different archives in Amazonas. The results indicate that, in Manaus, beneficent and union associations coexisted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, articulating practices of assistance and resistance according to political, economic, and social contexts. This dynamic demonstrated an associative culture capable of mobilizing strikes, such as the one in 1919, while simultaneously strengthening solidarity bonds through rituals, magna sessions, festivities, and educational initiatives. Based on these analyses, we present a contribution to the studies of the social history of labor in Amazonas.