The Jafets and Their Paths of Wealth: The Fiação, Tecelagem e Estamparia Jafet and Its Trade Networks

Abstract

Immigration was a process of great proportions for the American continent between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. People of different ethnicities and customs met in cities such as Sa?o Paulo, Buenos Aires, New York, and Chicago. In Sa?o Paulo, consequent demographic increases due to the presence of these individuals caused several alterations in the urban fabric, in which we can observe the agency of foreigners in the conformation of neighborhoods and companies’ foundations. We intend to demonstrate the interventions of the Syrian Lebanese immigrants Benjamin Jafet, Nami Jafet, and Basilio Jafet in founding the Fiac?a?o, Tecelagem e Estamparia Jafet S.A. and the construction of its industrial park in the Ipiranga neighborhood. Based on a transnational perspective, we intend to understand the commercial and social networks created by these individuals in order to capture their agency. We seek to go beyond the understanding of immigration as a discourse that tries to incorporate the foreigner in an official national narrative.