ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the rapidly changing world of urban labor during the final phase of the Porfiriato and the Revolution—shedding light on who the workers actually were and how they lived; their communication through the labor press; the influence of consumption and advertising in labor newspapers on everyday life; and the common creation of identity in spaces of sociability, like the theater, cinema, or labor festivals. During the Porfiriato and the Revolution, Mexico City experienced massive population growth due to internal migration and refugees from revolutionary violence. The new arrivals entered an urban environment that was radically changed by urbanization, industrialization, and new technological inventions: Sanitation, street-lighting, and public transportation changed the common perception of urban space, while the emergence of massive factories laid the foundation for a new form of class-consciousness, resulting in the formation of a labor movement that communicated primarily through the labor press. Technological innovations changed the perceptions of the global context by Mexican workers, and increased organizational freedoms allowed the construction of a common identity as workers rooted in the idea of a global union of working people.
