ABOUT THIS BOOK

This important new work is a study of the everyday lives of the inhabitants of São Paulo in the nineteenth century. Full of vivid detail, the book concentrates on the lives of working women--black, white, Indian, mulatta, free, freed, and slaves, and their struggles to survive. Drawing on official statistics, and on the accounts of travelers and judicial records, the author paints a lively picture of the jobs, both legal and illegal, that were performed by women. Her research leads to some surprising discoveries, including the fact that many women were the main providers for their families and that their work was crucial to the running of several urban industries. This book, which is a unique record of women’s lives across social and race strata in a multicultural society, should be of interest to students and researchers in women’s studies, urban studies, historians, geographers, economists, sociologists, and anthropologists.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

She holds a bachelor's degree in History from the University of São Paulo (1961), a Master's degree in Social History from the University of São Paulo (1965) and a Ph.D. in Social History from the University of São Paulo (1972). She completed research internships at the British Museum, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, Yale University and the Library of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a research fellow at the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and Visiting Professor at the Tinker Foundation. | She is currently retired Full Professor at the University of São Paulo, where she maintains master and doctoral orientation activities. Received the title of Professor Emerita of the Faculty of Philosophy of USP in 2013. She was Associate Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo from 1996 to 2013, when she retired. She has experience in History, with emphasis on History of Colonial Brazil and Empire, working mainly on the following topics: historiography, history theory, social history, urban history, slavery, gender relations, culture.

REVIEWS

A distinguished piece of new-style urban history, full of vivid detail. Dias writes with sympathy and perception about ordinary women and their struggle to survive.— Peter Burke, Cambridge University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface: The Other Witnesses / Eclea Bosi
1. Daily Life and Power
2. Bakerwomen and Women Stallholders: Survival and Resistance
3. The Myth of the Absent Lady
4. Ladies and Women Slaves at a Price
5. Slaves and Freedwomen Vendors
6. The Local Community
7. The Magic of Survival