Urban Working Class in Coffee Industry. Sorter Women, Threshers and Work Regime in Antioquia, Colombia from 1910 to 1942

The author analyses an urban working-class population linked to the coffee industry: the sorter women. He studies the group profile from different factors such as age, marital status, and literacy in the Medellín working class context; to go then to a deeper study on the Municipal Threshers of Concordia town (in Antioquia department) case. He observes its organization and work regime taking into account the different work agents —sorter women, directors, administrators and managers—, and the relationship between the company and the local public administration— representatives and municipal consultative council—. The author describes the company’s present organizational structure, its relationship with the public establishment and the coffee trading agencies; following an exposition about the spreading and consolidation process of coffee culture in Antioquia, especially in Antioquia’s southwest; and a concise assessment on historiography related to the zone and the subject matter.