Family, work, and union militancy: a female view of the world of work in ABC Paulista

Abstract

The present paper is part of a more comprehensive research agenda related to Human Rights violations by the Brazilian State during the Military Dictatorship period (1964-1985). It is developed out of interviews in a partnership with the Amnestied Metalworkers Association of ABC (AMA-A ABC) and and TVT, an educational broadcaster linked to Fundação Sociedade Comunicação, Cultura e Trabalho. In this work, we highlight the memories of Luiza, a female worker and migrant from the Northeast of the country, who had a difficult journey in metallurgy factories in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, went on strikes by the end of the 1970’s and the beginning of the 1980’s, and was part of the ABC Metalworkers Union direction. The aim is to comprehend, from a gender and class perspective, how Luiza’s narratives are related to social structures of domination, violence, and repression in her life, among family, work, and union contexts, in a period of a repressive political culture, institutionalized by the Brazilian State since the military coup in 1964. Out of her memories and narratives, it is analyzed how she had been politically committed, questioning the social structures of class and gender exploitation and domination in an authoritarian environment.