ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the patterns of industrialization and urbanization that transformed work and community in Mexico City at the turn of the century and helped to undermine the Porfirian consensus that had made growth possible. It identifies the organizational forms and specific demands of workers and popular classes that emerged during the "parenthesis of freedom" that was the revolution. The chapter describes two cycles of mobilization, the first leading up to the general strike of 1916 and the second leading to the rent strike of 1922. Both cycles challenged and shaped the emerging political order in Mexico City and demonstrate some of the possibilities and limitations of urban mobilization in this period. The urban mobilization in Mexico City had its roots in changes in the structure of work and community itself.
