How do changing class relations contribute to processes of capitalist development? Within the field of development studies, the importance of class relations is usually relegated to lesser status than the roles of states and markets in generating and allocating resources. This book argues that processes of class formation, struggle, and crucially, the changing balance of class forces between capital and labour constitute a key determinant of different patterns of capitalist development. Workers, state and development in Brazil illuminates these key issues in political economy through a detailed empirical investigation of the nexus between class dynamics and developmental processes and outcomes in North East Brazil's S o Francisco valley. It details how workers in the valley's export grape sector have utilized their structural and associational power to win concessions from employers, contributing to a progressive pattern of regional capitalist development. Based on a stimulating engagement with and critique of World Systems Theory and the Global Commodity Chains approach, this book will be of wide-ranging interest to those interested in understanding how global dynamics impact on local development. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in processes of capitalist development, class formation and dynamics, North East Brazilian political economy and International Political Economy.