Conflito Social, memória e experiência: a greve dos metalurgicos de Contagem-MG (1968)

Abstract

On April 1968, workers of Contagems industrial district organized the first strike after the Military Coup of 1964 and one of the most significant strikes of Brazilian labor movement. This theme has always been cited in other studies of this particular historical period; however it has never been the central subject of any research. This thesis results from a research that tries to rebuild the event based on documentary sources such as union newsletters, newspapers of left wing organizations involved in that occurrence, printed press and documents found in public archive of Minas Gerais. However, the central goal of this research was the reconstitution of the event from the memory of the people directly involved. This methodology led us to include them in Brazilian´s historiograph. We discussed here with those individuals who told us their memories, experiences and struggles. People who provided us with their memories and their forgetfulness. We tried to put on paper the culture, tradition, habits and the political organization structure contained in this working class. We prioritize the Actor as an individual, acting collectively. We analyze the daily routine, power relationships, work and life of those workers, contained in this socio-political context. In this way, we included in this research, the history of the Contagems metallurgical struggle in 1968, from the point of view of those who engaged it.