:Crafting the Republic: Lima's Artisans and Nation Building in Peru, 1821–1879

Iñigo García-Bryce has examined Lima's artisans during the years between José de San Martín's declaration of Peruvian independence and the outbreak of warfare with Chile in 1879. Over that period the number of artisans in Peru's capital multiplied, until by 1876 they made up five percent of the city's 100,000 inhabitants. Simultaneously their influence grew, indicated by the widening range of their activities and by the attention that they attracted from various sectors, including the emerging political parties that sought their support. Their recognition as an influential and productive sector of society was tied to their gradual acceptance of the liberal program that came to dominate Peru during these years. In the author's words, they embraced the “language of liberal republicanism” (p. 5), which opened doors as they assisted in building the new nation. The artisans' route to acceptance and respectability was a rocky one that involved several changes in direction over the years. García-Bryce traces their history, beginning in the colonial period when their interests were defended by guilds and religious brotherhoods. That privileged position came under attack in the eighteenth century as the Bourbon reformers sought to impose centralization. Nevertheless, their organizations managed to survive both this and the subsequent disruptions of the independence struggles, after which they sought to maintain their position by establishing ties with the new nation's ruling strongmen or caudillos. In return for legislation that protected them from foreign competition, they provided military recruits and taxes. That protectionism, however, disappeared with the end of caudillismo at mid-century, forcing the artisans to adopt new strategies, such as switching from guild-based pressure to a broader group pressure, and even taking matters into their own hands. In 1858, carpenters resorted to public demonstrations to protest against the importation of foreign construction materials. Actions such as these indicated a residual commitment to colonial exclusivity, but a shift in thinking was becoming increasingly apparent as the artisans realized that they needed to move with the times and adapt to new ideas if they were to have any real influence. Their acceptance of liberal goals was evident in the artisan schools that were set up to assist in the creation of a moral and productive citizenry. The growing “importance of labor as a central value in the liberal nation” (p. 94) was also evident in the Expositions of 1869 and 1872 that lauded the productivity and accomplishments of local artisans. The appearance of mutual aid societies in the 1860s gave further proof of artisans' adoption of the liberal program, although not in its entirety, for in establishing such societies they rejected the strict liberal picture of the individual as the basis of society. These societies also provided a route to political activity, even if formal political involvement was prohibited. The publication in the 1870s of two short-lived newspapers, El Artesano and El Obrero, gave further evidence of artisans' desire to participate, as well as indicating some of the contradictions within the group. They used the papers to claim leadership of the working class and in doing so even adopted the language of class; yet, they avoided radicalism of any sort in order to maintain the positive impression that they were trying to create.

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