They Eat from Their Labor

Download or read book They Eat from Their Labor written by Ann Zulawski and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the growth of the indigenous labor force in upper Peru (now Bolivia) during colonial times. Ann Zulawski provides case studies in mining and agriculture, and places her data within a larger historical context than analyzes Iberian and Andean concepts of gender, property, and labor. She concludes that although mercantilism made a critical impact in the New World, the colonial economic system in the Andes was not yet capitalist. Attitudes of both indigenous peoples and Spanish colonizers hindered the process of turning work into a commodity. In addition, the mobilization of labor power both reinforced and undermined each society's ideas about the economic and social roles of men and women.