Power struggle over power utilities: the Brazilian capitalism formation, 1900-1920

di Alexandre Macchione Saes
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 36 (2011), p. 111

Brazilian economy in early XXth century underwent an urban modernization process and, one of the most visible features of Brazilian cities’ modernization was that of energy power to public and domestic lighting and to tramway systems and industries. Conflicts between the Canadian Light and the Brazilian CBBE over the supply of urban public services to Brazil’s main economic cities – Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Salvador – mirror the contradictions in the country’s capitalism formation during the first decades of the XXth century. This paper aims to discuss the relation between a market competition and the urban modernization project of local politicians.