The People's Hotel: Working for Justice in Argentina

The Peoples Hotel by Katherine Sobering recounts the history of the Hotel Bauen, a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires that was occupied by former employees and turned into a worker cooperative. The cooperative faced many challenges but successfully kept the hotel open for nearly two decades, highlighting efforts to address inequality and reorganize work in a capitalist economy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 09 July 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Argentina faced a severe economic crisis in 2001, marked by business bankruptcies, rising unemployment, and a significant increase in poverty. Amidst this crisis, the iconic twenty-story Hotel Bauen in Buenos Aires quietly closed its doors, leaving longtime hospitality workers without jobs. Instead of leaving the luxury hotel vacant, a group of former employees took matters into their own hands and occupied the property, transforming it into the People's Hotel.

In her book, The People's Hotel, Katherine Sobering chronicles the history of the Hotel Bauen, detailing its transition from a privately owned business to a worker cooperative. The cooperative model adopted at the hotel involved democratic decision-making, job rotation, and equal compensation for all members. Sobering combines ethnographic and archival research with her own experiences as a volunteer worker at the hotel to explore how the Bauen Cooperative grew and managed to keep the hotel open for nearly two decades, despite facing numerous challenges.

Through her narrative, Sobering highlights the successes and innovations achieved by the Bauen Cooperative, such as their commitment to sustainable practices and their provision of affordable housing to workers. She also sheds light on the many challenges these workers faced, including labor disputes, economic instability, and government policies that undermined their efforts.

The People's Hotel provides a vivid portrait of the efforts made by workers to address inequality and reorganize work in a capitalist economy. It serves as a testament to the resilience and creativity of workers when faced with adversity, and it offers valuable insights into the potential for alternative models of economic organization and social justice.

Weight: 499g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478015635