To Populate and to Discipline: Labor Market Construction in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina, 1850-1890

In: Latin American perspectives: a journal on capitalism and socialism, Volume 26, p. 65-91

Abstract

Analyzes relations between the state & the market in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, 1850-1890, when the sparsely populated area became integrated into the world economy through grain & meat production. The impact of market forces on the transition of land from private hands to the state, & back to private ownership, is discussed, along with the emergence of inequality & privilege, government efforts to limit private property rights, & the demise of the informal economy. It is maintained that social engineering by the state & business interests motivated a new working class, ostensibly based on individual freedom, but generated by a bias toward labor force stability. In addition, the combination of business control & government legislation limited the free functioning of the supply & demand mechanism. How the structure of the social & cultural organization of the workforce changed in relation to the market is discussed, focusing on the tension created by the contradiction between theoretical constructs & actual social practices. 28 References. J. Lindroth