UC Berkeley

My dissertation contributes to the scholarship on camps, refugees and climate studies, spatial memory, heritage, and historical preservation, addressing episodes that have often been neglected in Latin American history: migrant labor camps in the first half of the twentieth century established for drought refugees in Northeast Brazil, the 1932 concentration camps, and 1942 labor recruitment centers (pousos). These camps were designed to serve the double purpose of helping migrants and organizing and controlling their labor power. During this time, under President Getúlio Vargas’ dictatorship (1930-1945), camps were mobilized to support larger ideals of progress and national development. Through this process, drought migrants emerged as a major labor force, but reinforced racial prejudices. These episodes are significant because their effects persist in the socio-economic structures, urbanization processes, and people’s daily lives in contemporary Brazil, long after the camps have been dismantled. “Backcountry northeasterners” (sertanejo nordestino) have continued to be the primary labor force nationwide throughout the twentieth century. To excavate these spaces and their hidden and untold histories is to tell a broader story of how the modern Brazilian state was built and how it continues to be shaped. By examining the architectural dimensions and racial underpinnings of early twentieth century concentration and labor camps in Brazil, in this dissertation, I present a history of spatial concentration, racial determination, and political segregations of populations that can help us better understand contemporary links between migration, climate, and labor.