Abstract

Solidarismo (Solidarism), is an economic and labour movement presented in Costa Rica in 1947. It has become a point of contention among labour activists and scholars for decades, creating the long-standing Solidarist-Syndicalist divide in Costa Rica. Despite evidence that Solidarism in Costa Rica has been used as a weapon against trade unionism, there exists the reality of its predominance in the country. In this dissertation, I offer an analysis that explains the prevalence of the Costa Rican Solidarist Movement (MSC), and its sustenance over time. I rely on both a historical and empirical analysis to provide an account of the rise and resilience of the MSC. I argue that the MSC was strategically founded at a pivotal political moment in Costa Rican history, during the anticommunist climate of the Costa Rican Civil War. As such, the movement presented itself as a middle ground between the individualism of liberalism and the collectivism of socialism. Furthermore, the movement owes its ubiquity to having deliberately forged its identity in line with the collective identities of nationalism (specifically, Costa Rican exceptionalism) and religion in the country. Over the years, the movement has seen continued support. I use the case of Del Monte Foods Inc.’s subsidiary, Pineapple Development Corporation (Pindeco), in Volcán de Buenos Aires, as a case study, to provide an ethnographic representation of community members’ lived experiences with solidarist organizations such as Solidarist Associations of Employees (ASE) and Permanent Worker Committees (CPT). I tell the story of the significance of Solidarism in the lives of workers in Volcán. I use the ethnographic data collected over 12 years in Volcán, to represent the experience of Volcanians and the history that has shaped the prevalence of the movement in the country.