ABSTRACT
The implementation of the sugar worker cooperatives project after 1975 coincided with a marked transformation in the organization and activity of the sugar worker movement. Between 1973 and 1975, under the banner of the Sugar Workers Coordinating Council, such tasks had primacy; sugar worker mobilization dominated the scene. The revenue generated by the bauxite levy and the rise in international sugar prices also strengthened Sugar Workers Coordinating Council's position. The future viability of the enterprises, as well as the dignity of the sugar workers, were seen to require a significant transformation of political and social relations in the sugar belt. The demobilization of the sugar worker movement—its adoption of certain tendencies, such as economism over politics, bureaucratization over mass participation, elitism over democracy, mild reformism over thoroughgoing social transformation, class collaboration over class consciousness and conflict—was neither spontaneous nor accidental.
