From subordination to contestation: The rise of labour in Barcelona, 1898–1918

Between 1898 and 1918 the position of labour within Barcelona was to undergo a remarkable transformation. In the mid-1890s, in both the socio-economic and political spheres, workers found themselves to a large extent subordinated to employers and the state. The two decades which followed were to see a great flowering of labour organization and protest. A key measure of this transformation was the ability to forge a modern union-based labour movement.