Between tenements and coffee: the construction of modernity in the city of Santos (1870-1920)

This article offers a critical reading of the construction of capitalist modernity in the city of Santos between 1870 and 1920, highlighting the social, political, and urban contradictions that shaped this process. Driven by the expansion of the coffee economy and increasing export demands, Santos emerged as a strategic commercial hub, undergoing significant urban, sanitary, and infrastructural transformations. However, this ideal of progress coexisted with precarious housing conditions, particularly in overcrowded tenements, and with enduring structures of social exclusion. The article also explores the local abolitionist movement and the arrival of Portuguese immigrants — seen either as agents of social distinction or as workers striving for survival — alongside the development of popular cultures within new urban spaces. Drawing from primary and secondary sources, and engaging with a critical historiographical perspective, the study argues that Santos became a contested space for defining what it meant to be “modern.” The city’s experience illustrates how capitalist modernity was unevenly constructed, marked by simultaneous processes of advancement and marginalization.