THE FORMATION OF THE SALARIED LABOR MARKET IN SÃO PAULO: The Debate About the Inclusion of the Black Population in the Post-Abolition Period

Abstract

With the end of slavery and the creation of a supposedly free labor market, the difficult process of negotiation between freed workers and their former masters began. Landowners were determined to maintain control over their workers. Beliefs in the supposed irremediable inferiority of the non-white population were largely reinforced, while at the same time, the state subsidized a huge flow of European immigration to São Paulo in the name of modernization while relegating the black population to marginalization. The interpretation of this process, however, is not homogeneous, especially with regard to the characterization of the ``black environment'' and the better training of immigrants. In this sense, this paper seeks to present the debate among Clóvis Moura, Florestan Fernandes, and George Reid Andrews on this topic, with the aim of building a critical analysis of this crucial period in the formation of the salaried labor market in São Paulo.