Quem não é escravo é senhor: usina açucareira no norte de Mato Grosso no pós-abolição

Abstract

Within the scope of social labor history and discussions on the post-abolition period, this study analyzes forced labor and its connections to concepts such as slavery, contemporary slavery, and labor analogous to slavery, based on the development of the modern sugar mill in Mato Grosso. The chronological scope covers the last decade of the 19th century to 1931, with an emphasis on the First Republic. The objective is to explore the continuities and reconfigurations of the labor regime in sugar mills, analyzing the means of recruiting and retaining these workers in relation to the abolition of slavery and the political transformations experienced by Mato Grosso and Brazil during the period studied, highlighting the Proclamation of the Republic and the 1930 Revolution. The research relates the case of mill workers to other productive sectors in the region, emphasizing dynamics that perpetuated coercive and violent practices, often defined by contemporary social actors as slavery. Among these dynamics, the study highlights the fight against 'vagrancy,' the promotion of exclusionary land policies, and prejudiced discourses that legitimized the imposition of forced labor on freedmen, 'vagrants,' drunkards, criminals, and other marginalized groups.