Ambassadors of the Working Class

Argentina's International Labor Activists and Cold War Democracy in the Americas

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Labour & Industrial Relations, History, Americas, South America, Modern, 20th Century
Cover of the book Ambassadors of the Working Class by Ernesto Semán, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ernesto Semán ISBN: 9780822372950
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: August 17, 2017
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Ernesto Semán
ISBN: 9780822372950
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: August 17, 2017
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In 1946 Juan Perón launched a populist challenge to the United States, recruiting an army of labor activists to serve as worker attachés at every Argentine embassy. By 1955, over five hundred would serve, representing the largest presence of blue-collar workers in the foreign service of any country in history. A meatpacking union leader taught striking workers in Chicago about rising salaries under Perón. A railroad motorist joined the revolution in Bolivia. A baker showed Soviet workers the daily caloric intake of their Argentine counterparts. As Ambassadors of the Working Class shows, the attachés' struggle against US diplomats in Latin America turned the region into a Cold War battlefield for the hearts of the working classes. In this context, Ernesto Semán reveals, for example, how the attachés' brand of transnational populism offered Fidel Castro and Che Guevara their last chance at mass politics before their embrace of revolutionary violence. Fiercely opposed by Washington, the attachés’ project foundered, but not before US policymakers used their opposition to Peronism to rehearse arguments against the New Deal's legacies.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1946 Juan Perón launched a populist challenge to the United States, recruiting an army of labor activists to serve as worker attachés at every Argentine embassy. By 1955, over five hundred would serve, representing the largest presence of blue-collar workers in the foreign service of any country in history. A meatpacking union leader taught striking workers in Chicago about rising salaries under Perón. A railroad motorist joined the revolution in Bolivia. A baker showed Soviet workers the daily caloric intake of their Argentine counterparts. As Ambassadors of the Working Class shows, the attachés' struggle against US diplomats in Latin America turned the region into a Cold War battlefield for the hearts of the working classes. In this context, Ernesto Semán reveals, for example, how the attachés' brand of transnational populism offered Fidel Castro and Che Guevara their last chance at mass politics before their embrace of revolutionary violence. Fiercely opposed by Washington, the attachés’ project foundered, but not before US policymakers used their opposition to Peronism to rehearse arguments against the New Deal's legacies.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Porn Archives by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Althusser, The Infinite Farewell by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Financial Missionaries to the World by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Relative Values by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Presidential Selection by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Living a Feminist Life by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Travel & See by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Metapoesis by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Buying into the Regime by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book The Black Church in the African American Experience by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book The South Africa Reader by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book The Race of Sound by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Aloha Betrayed by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Art, Activism, and Oppositionality by Ernesto Semán
Cover of the book Touching Feeling by Ernesto Semán
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy