State power and daily life: the woman of “bajo pueblo” in northern Patagonia. Government of Río Negro, 1880-1930

Abstract

This article analyzes some of the conflicts that arose in the governorship of Río Negro, between 1880 and 1930, due to the labor of state agents shielded behind moralizing campaigns. The newly born territorial state tried to eradicate the daily “relaxed” habits of the inhabitants in order to impose a new model of family in keeping with the aim of transforming the “frontier” society into a “progress” society, socially and sectorally differentiated. Thus, men and women of “humble” condition—as mentioned in the documents—endured and resisted the intrusion of Justices of Peace, the police, the formal judiciary, the governor, and the Church into their everyday patterns of life. Within this context, a privileged place was given to the disciplining of the three great “vices” that, for those in power, characterized the everyday world of women: sexual freedom, economic autonomy, and autonomy in decision-making.