“Where the living forces of work gather in excess”: dynamics of capital reproduction in São Paulo during the yellow fever epidemic

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the dynamics of capital reproduction in collective housing rental market investments in Santa Ifigênia, a neighborhood in central São Paulo, during the yellow fever epidemic that hit some regions of Brazil in the late 19th century. Through the actions of Carlo Gilardi, an immigrant from Italy’s Piedmont region who became an urban investor in São Paulo’s rental market, the article explores the relationships between coloniality, epidemics, and strategies for controlling the urban working class. The article analyzes discourses about collective housing using primary sources such as an 1893 tenement inspection report made by a government-appointed commission, Private Works Series orders, and land transaction records.

Keywords: yellow fever; urbanization; coloniality; tenements; immigration