Generating and Developing Microenterprises: The Case of Women in Palpalá

Abstract

This paper analyzes the new role of women in the world of work in Palpalá, Jujuy, after the privatization, in 1992, of the military manufacturing establishment Altos Hornos Zapla. From the definition of a new socio-labor framework, new conditions of existence were created in the city. This paper defines a new social profile of women-led economic entrepreneurship in a context of crisis.

From an interpretive approach, the behavior of a group of economic actors is described within a situational framework. The study combines case analysis from an ethnographic point of view with a sociologically oriented perspective. An analytical framework is designed on the basis of the data collected through the presentation of 12 cases.

Among the main conclusions, the study highlights the importance of the sociocultural environment in the formation of entrepreneurial attitudes, which appear in all cases from childhood. Professional academic training does not necessarily imply the possession of entrepreneurial capacities; indeed, it may even become an obstacle. Practical experience and personal attitudes—such as the ability to adapt to change, persistence, and the capacity to read the context—are more important for developing these capacities.

Training in microenterprise management and credit support promoted by the municipality have generated concrete impacts on the development of business units. The study also highlights the absence of changes in mentalities and discourses concerning responsibilities shared by both sexes and women’s rights in relation to free time.