A comprehensive dataset on political strikes in Latin America: Event characteristics, mobilization dynamics, and socio-political contexts (1990–2020)

Abstract: Political strikes—defined as collective work stoppages by workers opposing or challenging government policies—offer valuable insights into the dynamics of social and political conflict. These events lie at the intersection of labor mobilization, state-society relations, and governance challenges. The dataset Political Strikes in Latin America (1990–2020) was developed to enhance the study of these phenomena across 18 Latin American countries over three decades. It systematically categorizes strikes into three types: general political strikes involving workers from multiple economic sectors, sectoral political strikes focused within specific sectors, and local political strikes limited to single companies. The dataset was constructed using >3000 press reports on political strikes sourced from the LatinNews media outlet. The data underwent a rigorous validation through intercoder reliability checks and cross-referencing with external sources to ensure reliability and accuracy. This process identified and coded 195 general political strikes, 507 sectoral political strikes, and 263 local political strikes. The dataset comprises 73 variables capturing the internal mobilization dynamics of strikes—including temporality, geography, social organization, communication, disruption, tactics and targets, repression, and negotiation—and the broader political and economic contexts in which these events occurred. Its comprehensive structure and rich array of variables make it well-suited for analyzing labor movements, political crises, the dynamics of collective action in Latin America and their implications for governance and public policy.