Real Wages of Saltpetre Workers after the Crisis: A Critique on Methodological Centralism (Chile, 1932–1960)

Abstract

This research shows that after the global economic crisis of 1929, the fall in real wages of saltpetre workers was not as severe as previous literature suggests. In comparative terms, the nitrate sector did not lag behind and the true crisis, as far as wages are concerned, did not take place until the early 1960s. It is argued that previous literature has overlooked the importance of those who stayed in the nitrate industries after the economic crisis due to a historiographical attitude that could be termed as ‘methodological centralism’: the idea that regional realities are only relevant when they are connected to the state‐making process.