Women Coffee Sorters Confront the Mill Owners and the Veracruz Revolutionary State, 1915-1918

When the Mexican Revolution(1910­1920) erupted, seasonal women coffee sorters like permanent workers were forced to defend their economic livelihood in the face of rampant inþation. This article examines the discourse and strategies of Veracruz women coffee workers, anarchosyndicalist organizers, agro-industry, and the revolutionary state as they negotiated with each other. The embryonic revolutionary state and the trade union activists had different objectives linked to controlling working-class mobilization. As a result, the coffee sorters' discourse can best be framed within the context of women's responsibility for preserving the family and their struggle to fulÞll that obligation.