IN THE SHADOW OF BATLLE: WORKERS, STATE OFFICIALS, AND THE CREATION OF THE WELFARE STATE IN URUGUAY, 1900-1916

[摘要] The welfare state, and expanded social provision by national governments, is one of the most important political, social, and economic phenomena of the twentieth century. Uruguay was the first country in the Americas to establish a welfare state and among the first in the world to do so. This dissertation will argue that workers had a deep impact on Uruguayan politics in the early twentieth century. As their power increased, politicians responded to labor’s demands while attempting to channel workers into an orderly political process. I highlight the growth of workers’ power in many different ways. First, I show how workers developed their many critiques of modern industrial life–in essence, how they articulated demands. Second, this dissertation charts the development of Uruguay’s earliest labor bills—a process for which social Catholic militancy deserves credit. Third, I describe anarchism—the ascendant ideology among workers at the turn of the twentieth century in Uruguay—and its partial accommodation to welfare state-building through populist politics. Finally, this study analyses parliamentary discourse to show the increase of politicians’ fear of labor’s power, their legislative responses, and their other motivations for establishing a welfare state. Workers’ impact on the course of reform legislation reached a peak in 1916 when they initiated a series of strikes to correct the inadequacies of one of the country’s first labor laws: the eight-hour workday.

[发布机构] the University of Pittsburgh