Examining transformations in urban, regional, and national economic and political arenas in late nineteenth-century Milan, this book approaches working-class formation through structural changes experienced by the groups and individuals who participated in this essentially political process. Tilly shows that the timing of worker militancy, institution-building, and collective action of the major actors depended jointly on political shifts and regional economic change. Expansion of workers' rights facilitated their action, while repression of worker organizations and the prevention of coalitions with other groups slowed it down. Milanese workers varied greatly in their capacity to fight for rights to organize and strike, but some did indeed enter the local, regional, and national political arenas in the process of class formation.