Fiar, tecer e rezar: a história das mulheres na Fábrica de Tecidos do Biribiri (1918-1959)

Abstract

This study – developed in the line of research in Power, Market and Work – aimed to investigate part of the historical process that involved the social relations of women employed in the Textile Factory of Biribiri, Diamantina-MG. Based on investigation of peculiarities that permeated the daily life experienced in the scope of working life, especially involving the factory and the church, the thesis aims to approach the social and cultural profile of workers. The temporal frame was established between the years of 1918 and 1959, a period marked by achievements in the field of social rights and also by the intensification of the actions of the Catholic Church in the region. Following Carlo Ginzburg’s methology of indicial paradigm, we traced the indications and signs left by the workers in the minutes of the meetings of the Daughters of Mary Association and the Apostleship of Prayer, as well as in the cadastral records related to human resources. The result revealed a word of work marked by popular culture, the sexual division of occupations, and paternalistic relationships. The feasts of devotion to the Catholic saints, especially the Virgin Mary, were frequent and revisited by us. The women represented a large part of the hired labor and the sectors that most absorbed the labor force were spinning and weaving. The social rights were also instituted by labor legislation and incorporated by the factory. In a more specific way, the “Bishop´s Factory” became the factory of the Marias, the Joanas, the Agostinhas, the Rosalias, the Franciscas, the Cecilias, the Jovitas, the Odilas, the Luizas and many other “women of the people” whose routine was to spin, wave, and pray. This thesis was developed within the framework of Regional History and aims to contribute to studies of a regional nature in the history of women, work and culture.