engleski

Female workers association in Pula during Austro-Hungarian Monarchy ; networks, solidarity and gender

The construction of the railway section between the towns of Pula and Divača on the Istrian peninsula (part of the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) in 1876 enabled and strengthened military, economic, social and cultural relations between the southern and northern parts of the Monarchy, as well as local networks between the Istrian towns of Pula, Rovinj, Poreč and Koper. Pula, as the main Austrian naval port, was an ethnically, culturally and linguistically heterogeneous community with a prolific local economy. At the turn of the century, due to industrial growth and the further development of craftsmanship and trades, many migrated to the town from the hinterland in search of work. In 1900, there was a high percentage of wage workforce in Pula and almost 7000 people worked at the Arsenal. Within this dynamic context, many civil associations played an important role in the process of formation of the bourgeoisie as a self-conscious and powerful political subject. Others promoted national awareness and the consolidation of national communities. Also, given the large number of workers in Pula, we find a significant number of workers’ associations, which were quite strong and fought for better working and living conditions. These associations offered material, moral and intellectual support to workers, regardless of their nationality. The aim of this paper is to analyze the female section of the workers’ association, Sezione femminile della Società operaia polese. By implementing formal social network analysis, the goal is to gain insight into the composition, dimension and aim of the association, as well as to analyze how their architecture influenced their strategies and operation in public. This approach will also enable a better comparative and methodological understanding of their relations with the male section of the workers’ association and with other associations of female workers across and outside Istrian peninsula.

workers associations, Austro-Hugarian Monarchy, cultural anthropology

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