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Cristina Mehrtens, Molly C. Ball. Navigating Life and Work in Old Republic São Paulo., The American Historical Review, Volume 129, Issue 3, September 2024, Pages 1292–1293, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhae249
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Molly C. Ball’s Navigating Life and Work in Old Republic São Paulo provides a window onto immigrants’ lives in the capital city of São Paulo during Brazil’s oligarchic first Republican period (1891–1930), which began with a new constitution and the abolition of slavery, followed by São Paulo State’s economic transformation from an agro-export supply hub into the catalyst of an accelerated transition to a modern economy. Building on literature that focuses on the city of São Paulo’s exceptional place as a leading agricultural, industrial, and financial center, Ball emphasizes how the family-centered nature of its state-subsidized immigration program played a central role in encouraging entire families rather than individuals to come and set the tone for the eventual integration of the population. Through six chapters, 27 tables, seven figures, and two data-related appendices, Ball takes us on an extensive data-driven journey. She deepens the statistical analysis using archival migration and labor-market data, adds multifaceted immigrant “mini-biography” narratives (e.g., private letters from diverse official records), and explores the larger body of relevant scholarly literature. Ball delves into sources mostly related to two public and two private organizations: 1) the state immigrant hostel, 2) the private Anglo-Brazilian Mappin Department Store, 3) the state Tramway, Light, and Power Company, and 4) the private Jafet textile factory. Throughout the book, she compares data from these institutions to annual state reports, data on strikes and violence in the Paulista railway transport company records, and Ana L. Lanna’s work, Ferrovia cidades e trabalhadores (2000), which had access to lost archival original sources. When examining “the viability of alternative approaches to solving overstock and market inefficiency problems” (137) in the period, Bell also turns to records, publications, and interviews related to the São Paulo headquarters of Ford (1919–2021) and General Motors (1925).
