State and Territory: Paternalistic Politics in an Argentinean Industrial Community During the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

During the twentieth century, Latin American and Caribbean States have intervened in their territories in different ways. In this article we focus on Argentina, regarding the position that the national State has held as manager and employer, and in the configuration of territories in the second half of the twentieth century. Moreover, we analyze the role of the State as creator and manager of companies in specific local areas. For this, we studied the role of industrial state-enterprises such as Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) and Astillero Rio Santiago (ARS) in the material and symbolic configuration of the town of Ensenada (Buenos Aires Province). Through a qualitative methodological approach, we describe the companies strategies developed under the paradigm of industrial paternalism. We found that strategies had specific manifestations both on workers of such companies as well as on the community and local territory.