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The Early Colombian Labor Movement: Artisans and Politics in Bogota, 1832-1919

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"The Early Colombian Labor Movement: Artisans and Politics in Bogota, 1832 - 1919," by David Sowell is an important road map of the political and economic rise and fall of the artisan movement in Bogota. Sowell relies on newspapers, public petitions and hard to find political handouts to offer a vivid insight to the strategy and mobilization of early labor organizations in Colombia. The author also provides a strong examination of the struggle for political power among members of the Conservative and Liberal parties. Moreover, the author documents how partisan competition contributed to endemic political violence and repeated conflicts at the local, regional, and national levels.

Sowell also features the work of scholars Charles W. Bergquist and Frank Safford in this text to explain long-term economic trends and the impact of institutional power networks. Overall the author explores early constitutional reforms and the origin of clientel relationships within the Colombian two-party political system. The liberalization of the economy united artisans. However, industrialization led to urban violence and the downfall of the artisans as a strong political voice in Colombia, according to the author.

The lives and organized activities of Colombian artisans have both historical and contemporary importance. Take for instance the life of early labor organizer Ambrosio Lopez, born in 1809 to Jeronimo Lopez and Rosa Pinzon. Jeronimo was a tailor in the employ of the viceroy and Rosa made "chica," a maize-based low-alcohol veverage. Ambrosio's son Pedro, became an important banker and his grandson, Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo served as president of the Republic of Colombia in the 1930's. Another important aspect of this book is the examination of how extreme partisan competition lead to many bloody civil wars in Colombia.

Bert Ruiz