The Afterlife of Industrial Modernity: Decline and Growth in Palpalá, Argentina

Abstract

After deindustrialization, many Latin American cities transitioned from engines of regional development toward fragile economies, adapting to the challenges of this premature process. This thesis takes as a case study Palpalá, a city in northern Argentina that grew around the state-owned steelmaker Altos Hornos Zapla and had to reorganize its local economy after the company’s privatization in 1992. The starting point is an empirical paradox: while the industrial base collapsed, the population continued to grow at a rate surpassing both the province and the country, particularly in the last decade. By examining the demographic, labor, educational, and territorial dimensions of this transformation, and systematically comparing Palpalá within the Gran Jujuy metropolitan region between 1991 and 2022, findings from the research inform the understanding of postindustrial transitions in peripheral Latin American cities, where growth does not necessarily lead to prosperity, and where industrial collapse can leave marks that take decades to become visible.