Coffee and Transformation in São Paulo, Brazil advances a distinctive interpretation of the dynamism of the São Paulo region since the latter part of the nineteenth century. Large and entrepreneurial coffee landlords opened the frontier to the west of the state capital, playing a key role in making the state and Brazil the world's largest coffee producer for international markets. However, many of the immigrant settlers from Italy, Japan, Spain, and other countries emerged as major actors in the last phase of frontier expansion in western São Paulo. A substantial number of them found ways to become independent agriculturalists or enact new careers in commerce, industry, and services in the network of towns emerging in this region. This volume pays close attention to the political and economic implications of this region's process of segmentation and transformation, including their links to regionalism, political conflict, and the Revolution of 1930.

Mauricio A. Font is professor of sociology at The Graduate Center and Queens College, City University of New York, where he is also director of the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies.

Chapter 1 PrefaceChapter 2 Chapter 1IntroductionPart 3 Part IExport Sector Organization, Contention, and Structural ChangeChapter 4 Chapter 2Planters and Independent AgricultureChapter 5 Chapter 3Elite Mobilization and Policy-MakingChapter 6 Chapter 4Coffee and IndustrializationPart 7 Part IIPolitics: The Quest for HegemonyChapter 8 Chapter 5A Changing PolityChapter 9 Chapter 6From Export Sector Segmentation to Power StruggleChapter 10 Chapter 7Coffee and the Revolution of 1930Chapter 11 Chapter 8From Contention to RevolutionChapter 12 Chapter 9Demise of an Old RegimeChapter 13 Chapter 10Epilogue: A Great Transformation in São PauloChapter 14 Appendix ANotes on Agrarian and Structural ChangeChapter 15 Appendix BBackground Notes on Political ChangeChapter 16 Bibliography and Comment