Company welfare in modern Argentine railways: characteristics and challenges (1890-1920)

Abstract

This article explores company welfare programs in the railways in modern Argentina from the 1890s to the 1920s. It concentrates on the singularities of these companies' strategies, considering that the local society was shaped by a process of mass migration and Argentine economy depended on foreign capital, mostly from British origins. Based on diverse and not sufficiently revised sources, this study discusses the significance of recreational activities sponsored by companies’ directories and managers, their role in working-class daily sociability, and the making of the ideal of a great multinational railroad family. It would argue that this representation emerged from a complex and conflictive process in which railroad managers, workers, employers, and state officials were involved. In addition, it seeks to demonstrate that the Great War, the subsequent labor mobilization, and the deepening of political democratization during the 1910s proved crucial to undermining the ideal of great railroad family that companies had promoted.

Keywords

• railroads
• working-class
• company welfare