Bras. Political Sci. Rev.2011;5(1):165-9.
Volta Redonda, the City and the Steel
DOI: 10.1590/1981-3886201100010008
Firstly, this book makes for a great read, with rigorous research typical of a specialist who wants to appeal to those who are not. The book is about the creation of the Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN, National Steel Corporation) founded in 1941, during the Vargas dictatorship and, at the same time, about the emergence of the city which would be its home, in the Paraiba Valley, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In particular, it deals with how the group of workers in this industry was formed and how intense union activity was initiated to represent them. The beginning of this process is analyzed from the perspective of the public policies geared towards the country’s industrialization and a paternalist model of workers’ relations is adopted.
Located in the then-named Santo Antonio district of Volta Redonda in the county of Barra Mansa, in the Paraiba Valley, Volta Redonda would gain city status in 1954, eight years after the CSN started up. During the military dictatorship the city was considered an area of “national security” and in the 1990s it underwent one of the most talked about privatizations of the time. It is no wonder: the CSN represented the start of the successful second industrial revolution in Brazil and caught the public imagination as a symbol of national independence and sovereignty. These are more than sufficient reasons to make the study of this subject fascinating. It helps to understand the country’s model for economic development and the persistence of a nationalist ideology.
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