Founding marks of Neuquín in the transition towards provincialization during the 1950s. The Neuquenian House (1950-1956)

Abstract

In Neuquén, the passage from National Territory to province during the second half of the 20th century will become a transitional juncture from which institutional and symbolic devices will be deployed, tending to create the foundations of a new system of valorization, Neuquén as identity. The amalgam between uncertainties and expectations typical of any transition will constitute the basis of a process of impulse to cement new collective meanings, destined to build a "new compromise" between past, present and future. In this scenario, the intention will arise to delineate an integrating identity that, without invalidating the differences, at least makes the common prevail. The essential need to develop a feeling of "selfhood", the Neuquenian, will be the reason why the process of configuration of meanings, became a factor of power, which tried to be controlled and regulated by some institutionalized social actors. Our purpose is to understand, by virtue of the complexity and contingency of the transition, the actions of certain figures in the intellectual field. For this, our temporal cut will go from the creation of the Neuquenian House (1950) to the provincialization of Neuquén (1955).