Overview

The Atlantic world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a space of contradiction and hope. From New York to Havana to Buenos Aires, Spreading Rebellion documents the activities of migrant laborers from Spain who contributed to the genesis, development, and consolidation of maritime unionism. The rise of steamships in the late nineteenth century brought a massive increase in global transport, along with a ballooning international workforce. Coexistence onboard through shared working and living conditions contributed to solidarity among seafarers, while power exercised through their mobility helped stimulate the process of organizing dockworkers on land. Alonso and Struthers focus keenly on how this multilingual and multiracial workforce imbued their movement with an anticapitalist ethos. These dynamics animated aggressive campaigns for legislative reforms, and fights for workplace control with unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World. Spreading Rebellion is, above all, a transnational history that moves away from statist frames of reference.

Full Product Details

9781849356237

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Spreading Rebellion is a major contribution to Atlantic history, labor history, and the vibrant new area of study called 'maritime radicalism.' Three cheers for Bieito Alonso and David M. Struthers, who reveal the power and agency of Spanish maritime workers in exciting and original ways."" --Marcus Rediker, coauthor of The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic ""This wonderful book excavates forgotten and hidden histories of Spanish migrants employed in maritime jobs in the Americas. The book tells the stories of anarchist seafarers organising general strikes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, struggles against reformist unions in Cuba, Spanish communities of mobilization in New York's multiple ports, and much more beyond. The book brims with richly drawn historic characters, workers whose lives we seldom we hear about, and with the accounts of their resistance across the Americas."" --Laleh Khalili, author of Corporeal Life of Seafaring

Author Information

Bieito Alonso is a retired geography and history professor. Alonso lives in Tui, Spain, and is a contributor to the collection Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW. David M. Struthers is a historian, social scientist, professional writer, and editor. He is author of The World in a City and coeditor of Wobblies of the World.

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