JSTOR Daily on “building Brasília”

Brasília is the capital of Brazil but that only came to be in 1960 as it replaced Rio de Janeiro (which replaced Brazil’s first capital, Salvador, in 1763). The idea was to relocate the nation’s capital to a more centralised area but, as JSTOR Daily explained, it had to be built from scratch using overworked migrant workers and ignorance of labor laws to get it done: The practice of virada—exceeding overtime limits—was common. Protective equipment was also scarce, and there were frequent workplace accidents. There are few records of the total number of deaths and injuries during construction. Instead, we have spotty information. One of the available records is from the IAPI Hospital; it treated 10,927 construction-related accidents in 1959, an average of approximately 30 accidents per day. In 1960, this average exploded to 170 accidents per day. To ensure public safety—and to suppress any protests that might arise related to poor working conditions—the government deployed the GEB…