"Civilizing" Rio

"Conflicts during the Old Republic between Rio de Janeiro's lower orders and their employers, the transit companies, and the state about the effects of 'modernization' resulted in many losses, but also a few victories for the poor. Such popular protests have been marginalized by a historiography that tends to label them 'pre-modern' and to privilege workplace organization and protest over community protest"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.