From Central to Refinery: Labor and Hierarchy in the American Sugar Empire (1919-1962)

Authors

• Ben Woloch, Macalester CollegeFollow

Document Type

Honors Project

Abstract

From 1919 until 1962, the American Sugar Refining Company (ASRC) oversaw an empire, stretching from two Cuban sugar estates (centrales) to its Brooklyn refinery. The relationship between workers at both poles of the ASRC’s empire constituted a transnational labor hierarchy. Divergent management programs at the Brooklyn refinery and the centrales Jaronú and Cunagua confined the workers to distinct social positions. Brooklyn workers pursued labor-management collaboration in support of the sugar industry’s exploitative system, while workers in Cuba reimagined the sugar empire's power structure. The transnational workforce of the ASRC maintained a disunified relationship, which fractured the possibilities of working-class solidarity.

Recommended Citation

Woloch, Ben, "From Central to Refinery: Labor and Hierarchy in the American Sugar Empire (1919-1962)" (2026). History Honors Projects. 38.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/history_honors/38