Crafting the Republic

"This assessment of social and political mobilization in nineteenth-century Peru focuses on 5,000 Lima artisans, 70 percent of whom were black, Indian, or mestizo. Garcia-Bryce traces the evolution of these guild artisans into class-conscious workers. His discussion gives special attention to how artisans' declining economic success meant not only a loss of income but undercut gains in social status. It is in this interplay of economics and race that Garcia-Bryce's analysis of the origins of class identity is most revealing."--BOOK JACKET.