Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism

Weavers of Revolution is a major reinterpretation of the Salvador Allende era in Chile as well as a compelling drama of human triumph and tragedy that exemplifies "the new narrative history" at its authentic best.

Unfolding a vivid story as seen through the eyes of the participants themselves, the book focuses on the workers at the Yarur factory, Chile's largest cotton mill. After Allende took office in 1970, the workers seized control of the mill and proceeded to socialize its operations. They were to learn, however, that Allende's plans for transforming the country were less radical and more gradualist than theirs, and suddenly they found themselves on a collsion course with the government. Winn, who interviewed the workers and Allende while many of the events were taking place, brilliantly captures the turning point of Chile's "democratic road to socialism" of 1970-73 in both the Yarur mill and the presidential palace, showing how a revolution was forged "from below." As he demonstrates, the confrontation between Allende and the workers and its ultimate outcome reveal an array of complexities in the revolutionary process that too often elude American understanding and frustrate U.S. foreign policy.

Skillfully integrating oral history with penetrating analysis, this book uncovers the dynamic relationship between leaders and the people they propose to lead, and offers a striking new explanation of how revolutions are radicalized.

About the Author:

Peter Winn has taught at Yale and Princeton and is now Associate Professor of History at Tufts University, a Senior Fellow at Columbia University's Research Institute on International Change, and Barnette-Miller Professor of International Relations at Wellesley College. He has written for The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times and was principal advisor for and award-winning documentary on Cuba.

The compelling story of how a Third World revolution was forged "from below"


·Based on countless interviews with participants while the events were actually happening


·Sheds new light on Chile's Allende era and on the nature of revolutionary movements