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ELANA SHEVER University of California, Berkeley Neoliberal associations: Property, company, and family in the Argentine oil fields A B S T R A C T At the time of the privatization of the Argentine oil industry in ThetransformationofArgentina’sstate-ownedoil theearly1990s,DiegoParmadowasoneof51,000workerswho companyintoatransnationaljoint-stock called themselves “YPFianos,” after the state-owned oil com- corporationandaseriesofworker-owned pany,YPFEstatal,forwhichtheylabored.Bornandraisedina subcontractingmicroenterprisesinnorthwestern Patagonianoiltown,hehadfollowedhisfatherandunclesinto Patagoniaprovidesanexampleofanactually YPFatage14,expectingtoretirefromthecompanyastheyhad.1Afterthe existingneoliberalproject.Inthisarticle,I stateoilcompanywasconvertedintoaprivatelyownedcorporation,Diego illustratehowthisprojectwasasmuchaprocessof andtheworkersinhisdivisionweredismissedfromtheirjobsbutweretold sustainingaffectiverelationalityasitwasaprocess tore-formtheirproductionunitsintoworker-ownedmicroenterprisesthat offosteringcalculativerationality.Theprivatization would offer subcontracting services to the newly formed “parent” com- processgeneratedcorporatesubjectsattached pany.Thischangeoccurredsorapidly,Diegoexplained,that“youwentto throughfamilialassociationsofproperty,company, sleepatnightwithababybottleandthenextdayyougotupwithatieand andfamily.Kinshipsentimentwasalsothecrucial briefcase.”WithhisKafkaesquevisionofmetamorphosis,Diegocaptured forcethatincorporatedformerstateoilworkersinto an understanding, shared by his fellow YPFianos, that this formal con- theinequitablecircuitsoftheglobalpetroleum versionofstateworkersintosmall-businessownershappenedovernight. industry.Iarguethatthisneoliberalprocesswas However,theirsubstantivetransformationwasafarmorearduousandex- effectiveinasmuchasitworkedaffectively. tendedprocess.BodiestoughenedbyyearsoflaborintheharshPatagonian [neoliberal,kinship,property,affect,corporations, oilfieldsdidnoteasilyfitintobusinesssuitsmeantfordeskwork. structuraladjustment,petroleum,Argentina] NeoliberalprojectsliketheoneexperiencedbytheYPFianosconstitute efforts to alter how commodities and services are produced, distributed, and consumed across the world. In the process, they remake the people who produce, distribute, and consume these commodities and services. Oneofthemostprominentpiecesofthe“neoliberalreform”inArgentina wastheconversionofYPFEstatalintoaprivatelyownedtransnationaloil corporation(YPFSA,laterrenamedYPF-Repsol)andaseriesofmicroen- terprisesknownasemprendimientos.2WhenthevastmajorityofYPFianos lost their jobs during this process, many became worker–owners in em- prendimientos.Yetonlyafewremainedintheoilindustryadecadelater. In this article, I examine how these remarkable state oil workers remade themselves into business owners and maintained their microenterprises foradozenormoreyearsagainstseeminglyimpossibleodds.Iarguethat themenandthefewwomenwhosustainedemprendimientosemployed kinshipdiscourseandpracticesoffamilialcaretostrengthentheaffective dimensionoftheirlaborrelations,despitestateandcorporatepoliciesthat AMERICANETHNOLOGIST,Vol.35,No.4,pp.701–716,ISSN0094-0496,online ISSN1548-1425.(cid:2)C 2008bytheAmericanAnthropologicalAssociation.Allrightsreserved. DOI:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.00106.x AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 dismantled familial privileges in the oil industry and en- tionofeconomicaction,andthetransferofstate-owneden- couraged dispassionate calculations in their place. I also terprisesandservicestocorporateentities.Thefinalitem show how kin-based obligations became a problem for inthislist,commonlyknownas“privatization,”occupiesa thesebusinessownersatthesametimethataffectivebonds prominentplaceinneoliberaltheoryandpolicybecauseit were assets that they used to develop their businesses. In purportedlysolvesoverlappingproblemsofgovernment— short, I analyze how this neoliberal project was both en- includingthecorruptibilityofstaterepresentatives,their- abledandtroubledbytheYPFianos’kinshipsentimentsand rationalityofstateregulation,andthepoorqualityofstate familialrelationships. services—withstrategiesembodyingcoreneoliberalbeliefs Thearchitectsoftheso-calledneoliberalreforminAr- intheefficiencyofprivatebusinessesandintheimpartial gentina stressed the privatization of state enterprises and judgmentof“themarket”(IMF1998:5–6).Thestatedgoals services as the panacea for multiple ills, including state of privatization schemes have shifted over time yet have debt,bureaucraticcorruption,marketinefficiency,andthe consistently included increasing economic efficiency and failure of both import-substitution industrialization and promotingprivatepropertyownership(Manzetti1999:14– statewelfaretomakeArgentinaintothe“FirstWorld”na- 16;MegginsonandNetter2001:321).Mostofthepolicylit- tionmanybelieveditcouldbe.Thestate-ledprocessofpri- eratureidentifiesfactorsthatleadstatestoadoptneoliberal vatizingYPFtransferredpropertyrightsandindustrialman- “structuraladjustments”butrarelyquestionstheeconomic agement from state to corporate actors, and state agents rationalityonwhichtheyrest.Forinstance,astudyofpri- assumed that their juridical and administrative changes vatization in four Latin American countries asks why nu- would inevitably lead to modifications in YPF employees’ merousstatescarriedoutmassiveprivatizationprojectsin dispositionsandrelationships.However,Iargue,YPF’spri- the1990sbutnotinthe1970sand1980s,despite“making vatization did not generate the entrepreneurial individu- perfecteconomicsenseinmanycountries”sincetheearly als that were advertised as the product of neoliberalism 1970s(Manzetti1999:1,4–5). but, rather, re-formed relational subjects attached to and Theanthropologistswhohavetackled“neoliberalism” through affective associations of property, company, and in recent years have taken a decidedly distinct approach family. fromthatofpolicy-orientedsocialscientists.Theburgeon- To scrutinize the reconfiguration of personhood and inganthropologicalscholarshiponneoliberalismhascon- socialrelationsinthenameofneoliberalism,Iexplorehow tributed significant insight into the effects of neoliberal stateworkers–turned–businessownersdeployednotionsof projectsoneverydaylifebytackingbetweenneoliberalpoli- YPF kinship to reshape three sites: oil workers’ “start-up” ciesandtheirofficialdiscourse,ontheonehand,andthe oil service emprendimientos, the transnational “parent” quotidianexperienceofneoliberalprograms,ontheother corporationthatcontractedthem,andworkers’kin-based hand.Itpersuasivelyshowsthatthemovefromstate-ledto households.3 In the northern Patagonian oil fields and market-based government has involved far more than re- towns, the state oil workers who became small-business moving state and social controls over economic relations. owners maintained, but also refashioned, the labor rela- Much of this work points to a radical new form of cap- tionsofthepaternalisticstatecompanyandtheiraffective italism spreading across the world today. It portrays ne- attachments to YPF. They envisioned their industrial rela- oliberalismasrepresentingaprofoundbreakbetweenthe tions in familial terms, preferentially hired and promoted era of state-led development and the era of accelerated theirfellowYPFianos,andsupportedtheirkin,muchasthe globalization. statecompanyhaddone.Theyalsoreconciledtheseactsof A special issue of Public Culture provides a seminal carewithcalculativestrategiesforgeneratingaproductive elaborationofneoliberalismasthehegemonicformofcapi- workforce and a viable business. At the same time that it talismemergingattheturnofthe21stcentury.Intheissue’s providesavividexampleofanactuallyexistingneoliberal introduction,JeanComaroffandJohnComaroffassertthat project,thisanalysisreverberatesbeyondtheArgentineoil “neoliberalismaspires,initsideologyandpractice,tointen- fields because it suggests that affect, as muchas rational- sify the abstractions inherent in capitalism itself: to sepa- ity,hasbeenacrucialcomponentofneoliberalprojects(see rate labor power from its human context, to replace soci- alsoRofel2007). etywiththemarket,tobuildauniverseoutofaggregated transactions” (2000:305). They further argue that neolib- eralism has already changed “the phenomenology of be- Analyzing neoliberal projects ingintheworld,”albeitunevenly(ComaroffandComaroff The large body of policy-oriented scholarship defines ne- 2000:305).4Harveyconcursthatneoliberalismhasbecome oliberalism as a series of ideologically aligned processes devastatinglyhegemonicinthecontemporarymomentbut thatincludeashiftfromstatetoforeigninvestmentineco- challengesthefitbetweenneoliberalideologyandpractice. nomic ventures, an increased focus on exportation as a Heassertsthatadvocatesandpractitionersofneoliberalism strategyforincomegeneration,adecreaseinstateregula- use a benevolent discourse about rights and freedoms to 702 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist mask“thegrimrealitiesoftherestorationorreconstitution onia.Indoingso,IjoinLisaHoffman,MonicaDeHart,and ofnakedclasspower,locallyaswellastransnationally,but StephenCollierinassertingtheneedto“reassessneoliber- most particularly in the main financial centres of global alism’scoherenceasahegemonicproject,anditsstability capitalism”(Harvey2005:118–119).Harveyandotherschol- asapredictable‘package’ofpolicies,ideologiesandpolit- arshavesingledoutprivatizationschemesfortheirspectac- icalinterests”(2006:9).Iaimtodothisandabitmore:to ularfailurestoliveuptotheirpromises,theirdramaticesca- show not only that the privatization of Argentina’s state- lationofpovertyandinequality,andtheirfragmentationof owned oil company failed to constitute a coherent bun- communalbelonging.5Muchofthescholarshiponneolib- dle of ideas and practices based on universal norms but eralismhighlightsthepenetrationofmarketrelationsinto also that it was achieved using forces it was supposed to newsitesandthepolarizationofworldpopulationsalong eliminate,namely,familialsentimentsandpracticesofkin- myriadaxes. ship.Asaresult,Idemonstrate,theneoliberalprojectcar- Ratherthanportrayingneoliberalismasthelateststage riedoutintheArgentineoilindustrydidnotgenerateau- ofcapitalism,severalanthropologistshaveemployedanan- tonomized individuals who “enterprise[d] themselves” as alyticofgovernmentalitytoconceptualizeneoliberalismas they enterprised their work (Rose 1996:57; see also Rose asetofgoverningtechniquesthatworkbyshapingmarket 1998). Instead, processes of economic restructuring pre- relationssothatpeoplelearntogovernthemselves.These senteddilemmasthroughwhichpeoplenegotiatedcalcu- anthropologists engage scholars in other fields who have lativeandcaringpractices,detachedandlovingaffect,and scrutinized the development of a neoliberal rationality or nurturing and disciplining governing techniques. I show “styleofthinking,”andthenormsofhumanbehavioritsug- how these dilemmas generated thoroughly relational and gests,buttheyseldomconsideritsactualization.6Elizabeth affectivecorporatesubjectswho, in turn,embodiednovel C.Dunn(2004),however,employsethnographicinvestiga- formulationsofagencyandsociality. tiontoshowthatforeignneoliberalnormsofrationalityand subjectivitywereintroduced,althoughnotfaithfullyrepli- The juridical process cated,whenababy-foodfactorywasprivatizedinpostso- cialistPoland.7OthercriticalstudieshaveshownhowNGO The privatization of Argentina’s state-owned enterprises representatives, medical practitioners,and other nonstate and services was not a policy imposed by the IMF and actors have taken over governing positions previously oc- its Argentine allies on an unwilling population but an cupiedbystateagents,forexample,asprovidersofhealth experimental process shaped by differently positioned care. participants to different degrees.9 Although YPF employ- Although ethnographic studies of actually existing ees were largely unable to direct the legal and legislative neoliberalisms provide nuance to the frequently broad- aspects of this process, the charismatic Peronist leader brushed portraits of neoliberalism as the newest capital- CarlosMenemwaswellsituatedwithinmultiplenetworks ist logic or ideology, they tend to de-emphasize the fail- ofpowertoplayacrucialroleinguidingit.WhenMenem ures of state welfare and development and to neglect the became president in 1989, he surprised many Argentines, continuitiesbetweenneoliberalandotherregimesofrule. including his own Peronist Party (Partido Justicialista) Theyalsotendtooverlookthewaysinwhichpeoplepartic- membership,byintensifyingandexpandingthetransition ipate in advancing neoliberal projects. In particular, there fromstate-supportedimport-substitutionindustrialization hasbeenscantethnographicattentiontothecorporateac- to corporate ownership and management of Argentine torswhoparticipateinneoliberalprojects.8Thescholarship industry, commerce, and banking, which the military alsoglidesoverthedistinctionsamongneoliberalprojects dictatorship (1976–83) had initiated and the first postdic- and,intheprocess,frequentlysuggestsauniversalneolib- tatorship administration (of Rau´l Alfons´ın, 1983–89) had eralsubject.It,thereby,forgetsthattheseprojectsarestill haltinglypursued.Theconcomitantdeunionizationofthe unfoldingandcomestoprematureconclusionsaboutne- PeronistPartyallowedMenemtofillhiscabinetwithpromi- oliberalism’seffects. nentbusinessmen,ratherthantheexpectedPeronistunion In this article, I describe the privatization of YPF as leaders. In accordance with guidelines from multilateral an unfinished process in which an experiment known as lendingagenciesofferingsubstantialbutconditionalloans, “neoliberalism” has been translated into a series of situ- these corporate executives and their foreign collaborators atedpracticesintheArgentineoilfieldsandtowns.Inother quickly devalued the Argentine currency, suspended the words, the Argentine petroleum industry has served as a legalrestrictionsonforeigninvestment,dismantledunion laboratoryforreformerstryingtofigureouthowtoturncer- institutions,andannouncedtheimminentprivatizationof tain speculative ideas about the ideal relationship among stateenterprisesandservices.Thesewerethefirststepsina state,economy,andsocietyintoamaterialrealityon,and processthatscholarshavelabeled“aneoliberalrevolution” under, the ground. I focus on how this process unfolded (Acun˜a 1994:31). Between 1991 and 1994, the Menem between 1989 and 2005 in northwestern Argentine Patag- administration transferred ownership and control of 703 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 90 percent of Argentina’s state enterprises and public ExistingstudiesoftheprivatizationofArgentina’sstate services to conglomerates of business corporations and companiesandservicesconcludewiththesejuridicaland banks(IMF1998:5). administrativechanges,butendingthestoryofYPF’spriva- YacimientosPetrol´ıferosFiscales(YPFEstatal)wasthe tizationhereisdeceptive.Doingsogivesafalsesenseofthe world’s oldest vertically integrated national oil company. efficacyoflegaldiscourseandbureaucraticstructurestore- In part because it was also the largest enterprise in Ar- makesocialworlds,anditignoresthefarmessierprocessby gentina, the Menem administration selected it as one of whichcorporateenterpriseswerecarvedfromtheremains thefirsttoprivatize.AfterCongressapprovedtwolawsthat ofastatecompanyandcorporatesubjectsweremoldedout greatlyexpandedexecutiveauthorityearlyinMenem’sfirst of state workers. Although the sale of YPF to Repsol may term, Menem began issuing presidential “decrees of ne- seem, in hindsight, the culmination of a coherent neolib- cessityandurgency”thattransferredmanystateassetsto eral policy implemented by a collaboration between the corporate entities. The decrees ended state control of oil Menemadministrationandtransnationalinstitutions,itis prices and production levels, terminated YPF’s monopoly betterunderstoodasaresultofaprocessthatinvolvednu- on the sale of crude oil within Argentina, eliminated tar- merousdifferentlypositionedpeopleexperimentingwitha iffs on importing and exporting fuels, and suspended the mixtureofstrategiesascircumstanceschangedandinitial YPF union’s collective-bargaining contract (Etchemendy techniquesfailedtoproducedesiredresults.Theabridged 2001:11–12; Murillo 2001:153). Moreover, the Menem ad- chronicleofeventsgivenaboveonlybeginstoillustratehow ministration appointed corporate trustees who renegoti- a wide variety of actors who had previously managed the ated YPF contracts with the privately owned companies stateownershipofpetroleumdidnotfadefromviewbutfa- that provided services from exploration to transportation, cilitatedtheshifttocorporateownershipandcontrol.More- began granting concessions to other oil companies, and over,thetermprivatizationtooreadilybundlestogethera entered into joint ventures to extract petroleum. The Ar- setofcomplexandcontradictoryprocessesthatdeveloped gentineCongressaffirmedMenem’sprivatizationoftheoil overmorethanadecadeandwhoseeffectsarenotyetfully industry when it approved the Privatization of Hydrocar- realized. Thus far, this process has remade the people in- bonsandYPFLawin1992(Llanos2002:137–152).Thisact volvedintheoilindustryasmuchasithasreconfiguredthe legallysanctionedthereconstitutionofYPFEstatalasYPF propertyandotherlegalrelationsofthestate. SA,thatis,theconversionofthestateoilenterpriseintoa In Mexico, Cori Hayden (2003:44–47) points out, the joint-stockcorporation,whichwasalreadywellunderway. juridicalreconfigurationofprivatepropertyerasedindige- It also enabled the transfer of $5.6 billion in foreign debt nous claims to territory, materials, and knowledge while fromthecompanytothestate,avastreductionofYPF’sla- enabling national and corporate claims. Similarly, in Ar- borforce,andtheformationoftheemprendimientos.10As gentina,thelegalconfigurationofanewdomainofprivate itsenormousdebtwasrepositionedanditsexpenseswere petrolicpropertyelevatedsomepropertyclaimswhilefore- cut,YPF’sfinancespassedfromadeficitof$576millionin closingothers.Forinstance,eachoftheprivatizationlaws 1990 to a profit of $400 million two years later (Manzetti included a provision establishing a Participatory Property 1999:115). Program to incorporate state workers into the privatized The company directors began selling shares of stock companies by making them shareholders with a “stake” tocorporations,banks,andindividualinvestorsonlyafter inthenewfirms.However,theprocessofcreatingprivate YPFSA’sprofitabilitywasestablishedandthecompanyhad ownershipdidnotfollowitslegaldiscourseaboutinclusion become more enticing to investors. The initial offering of and representation.11 The workers still engaged by YPF at 45percentofYPF’sstockontheNewYorkStockExchange thetimeofitsconversionintoajoint-stockcompanywere inJune1993generatedmorethan$3billionforstatecoffers givena(minuscule)percentageofthenewcorporatestock, in a matter of weeks (Gerchunoff and Ca´novas 1996:210– buttheywerealsodispossessedoftheirentitlementtostate 211).Althoughthe1992privatizationlawrequiredthestate employmentandbenefits,includinghousing,healthcare, to retain ownership of more than half of YPF SA’s shares, andlivableretirementpensions.Then,thecompanydirec- Congressamendeditseveraltimestoallowthestatetosell torsillegallyrescindedtheseworkers’sharesofstockwhen more of its shares, and, shortly thereafter, private share- theydismissedthemfromthecompany.Initiativeslikethe holders’stakeeclipsedthatofthestate.In1999,thepriva- ParticipatoryPropertyProgrampromisedthestateoilwork- tizedSpanishnationalpetroleumcompany,Repsol,bought ersinclusionintheprivateownershipofpetroleum,butthe theArgentinestate’sremainingsharesofstockandrenamed privatizedindustryexcludedthevastmajorityofYPFianos. the company YPF-Repsol SA. The Menem administration AtthesametimethatYPFianoswerebeingmultiplyex- usedthemoneyfromitssharestorepaysomeofthestate’s cludedfromparticipationinYPFSA,foreigninvestorswere foreigndebts,butRepsolhasusedthestocktomakeenor- gaining an increasing percentage of the company’s stock. mousprofitseversince. YPF’sprivatizationwascelebratedininternationalbusiness 704 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist circles as a neoliberal success story, while it was decried rary measure to ease the transition to a privatized indus- in the Argentine press as giving away “grandmother’s last try. In Plaza Huincul and Cutral Co´, YPFianos founded 45 jewels” (e.g., compare Clar´ın 1999 with Wall Street Jour- differentemprendimientos,ingroupsofworker–ownersas nal 1999). This frequently repeated metaphor portraying smallasthreeinsomecasesandaslargeas200inothers.Al- petroleumasafamilyheirloomillustratesthatmanyArgen- thoughafewoftheseventureswereorganizedasworkerco- tinessawtheconversionofoilfromstatetocorporateprop- operativesliketheauto-partsfactoryportrayedinthefilm ertyasalossofanationaltreasureandabetrayalofkin.This The Take (Lewis 2005), many more were organized along process of transforming the Argentine oil industry played morenormativelycapitalistlinesandreproducedthehier- outquitedramaticallyintheoiltownsofPlazaHuinculand archical structure of YPF Estatal’s production units. Many CutralCo´,situatedonthedesertplateauofnorthernPatag- oftheemprendimientosclosedbytheendof1993,butthe onia,towhichInowturn. onesdiscussedinthisarticlesurvivedatleastuntil2005. InPlazaHuinculandCutralCo´,aselsewhere,oilwork- erswereexpectedtomakethechangefromstateemployees The Patagonian “start-ups” tosmall-businessownersjustasquicklyasMenemsigned The state’s sale of YPF SA stock had little impact on the the law that remade YPF Estatal into YPF SA. Although lives of the investors who bought shares, but the process YPFianosweretoldtorefashiontheirYPFunitsintoinde- ofrealizingthesesalesdramaticallyreconfiguredtheevery- pendent service providers, the vast majority of the public daylivesofthetensofthousandsofYPFianosinoiltowns assets they produced and handled did not become their acrossArgentina.Morethansimplyalegalreclassification, private property. Furthermore, the privatized YPF SA did the privatization of YPF enabled the reduction in its per- notprovidethewelfarebenefitstoitssubcontractorsthat sonnelfrom51,000employeesinDecember1990to8,000 thestatehadprovidedtoitsworkers.Theirhealthcarewas in December 1993.12 After YPF-Repsol moved its regional transferredfromtheYPFhospitalsandclinicstotheover- headquartersfromthecompanytownofPlazaHuinculto burdened and inferior state system, their company hous- theprovincialcapitalofNeuque´n,PlazaHuinculandneigh- ingwassoldasprivaterealestate,andtheYPFclubsthat boringCutralCo´ losttheirspecialstatusastownsthatfu- housed social, sports, and entertainment programs were eled the nation, and their unemployment rate rose above left to fall, or be taken, to pieces (see Figure 1). Increased 20percent.13NumerousYPFianosbitterlyrecallthat,atthe subcontractingwasatechniqueemployedworldwidebyoil samemomentthatYPFSA’sprofitsbegantosoar,theyar- executiveseagertodecreasecorporatecostsandliabilities, rivedfortheirshiftstofindlonglistsofthosewhohadbeen but in Argentina it especially served to shift the respon- dismissedpinnedtothefenceoutsidetherefinery.Inmyr- sibility for rising unemployment and falling welfare away iad additional ways, the legal conversion of oil from pub- fromcorporateandstateactorsandontotheshouldersof lictoprivatepropertyreplacedtheclaimsofstateworkers workers. and their families with those of corporate executives and Theformerstateworkerswhobecamepartnersinem- shareholders, most of whom were historically, geographi- prendimientos continued to do almost everything neces- cally,andsociallyremovedfromtheArgentineoilfields. sary for petroleum production—from geological imaging Theprivatizedoilcorporationpromptlyceasedtopro- and well drilling to pipeline cleaning and paper filing— duce petroleum in any straightforward sense; YPF SA be- but without the guarantees of stable employment with cameamanagementfirm.Itssmalllaborforcedidnotex- high, predictable wages and numerous benefits they had plore, drill, or refine oil but negotiated, supervised, and had as state workers. In addition to doing for the pri- audited those who did. Of the 43,000 veteran oil work- vatecorporationsmuchthesameworktheyhaddonefor ersacrossthecountrywholeftthestateenterpriseduring the state oil company, they also assumed complex new the conversion of YPF Estatal to YPF SA, some were for- responsibilities—including negotiating contracts, manag- mally laid off, some accepted early retirement packages, inglargecashflows,providinginsurance,obtainingcredit, andotherswereforciblyretired.InnorthernPatagonia,as and paying business taxes—for which they were unpre- in Argentina’s other oil regions, the majority left because pared.Towardtheostensibleendofhelpingworkersmake they were instructed by their bosses and their union to thistransition,YPFSAgaveeachemprendimientoano-bid convert their YPF units into emprendimientos, special oil contractforafewyears,soldeachofthemthe(faroutdated) servicemicroenterprisescollectivelyowned,managed,and equipmentthattheworkershadusedinYPFEstatal,andes- staffedbyformerstateoilworkers.14 Theemprendimiento tablishedschedulesforrepaymentofdebtsfromthesesales programpromisedworkersthattheycouldretaintheiroil withdeductionsfromtheemprendimientos’earnings.The sector jobs and “stake” in the industry, only now through emprendimientos’subcontractsdidnotautomaticallygen- subcontractingagreementsbetweentheemprendimientos erate the entrepreneurial subjectivity that they were sup- theyownedandthegiantcorporationtheydidnot.Theem- posedto,andthenewemprendimientopartnersstruggled prendimiento program was initially intended as a tempo- tofigureouthowtomakethetransitionfromstateworkers 705 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 Figure1. TheYPFmovietheaterinPlazaHuincul,whichwasshutdownafterthecompanywasprivatized.PhotobyE.Shever. tobusinessowners.Theyfrequentlyturnedforhelptothe theirlackoffinancialandadministrativeskills.Hedidnot small group of YPF Estatal bosses who had become man- mentioneithertheirinsufficientcapitalortheirsubstantial agersintheprivatizedoilcompany. debtstotheprivatizedYPF. The upper-level supervisors who retained their jobs TheexperienceofHerna´ndelaCruzprovidesanillus- in the privatized corporation asserted that they assisted trationofhowYPFianosunderstoodthedifficultiesoflearn- theemprendimientoownersinbecomingindependent“en- ing to manage an emprendimientoin terms distinct from trepreneurs.” At YPF-Repsol’s posh high-tech office build- those of the corporate managers. When a mutual friend inginNeuque´nCity,anhour’sdrivefromPlazaHuincul,an introduced us, I never would have guessed that Herna´n YPF-Repsolexternal-relationsmanagerexplainedthatcor- was the managing director of a company with more than poraterepresentativessuchashe“hadtochangethemen- 100workers.Hewasaburlymanwhoappearedolderthan talityofthesepeoplealittle,becausetheywereemployees, his 48 years, with a head of salt-and-pepper hair and the notentrepreneurs.”WhenIaskedhimtoclarifythediffer- leathery skin of someone who had spent most of his life encebetweenthesetwosubjectpositions,hestated, outdoors. Despite his new position, he continued to wear the sweater, jeans, and boots of the field foreman he pre- To be an employee is to be dependent. For example, viously had been. Between drags on a cigarette in a cold in a bar there is the owner, who is the entrepreneur, YPF warehouse-turned-office, he told me how he learned andtheothersareallemployees.Here,theownerwas ofYPF’sprivatization:“Onedaytheshiftdirectorappeared the state and everybody was an employee, you un- and said, ‘YPF Estatal is finished.’ They just announced, derstand.Theydidn’thavethementalitytoadvancea ‘Gentlemen, it is finished.’” Herna´n repeated for empha- business, because the business belonged to the state. sis,“YPFdirectlyinformedthemanagement,andtheyin- And so when they became entrepreneurs they didn’t formedalltheemployeesthatYPFwasfinishedandthatall know anything, they had no entrepreneurial mental- ity, and they were missing the management. An em- ofthesectorshadtoformcompanies.”Likethecomment ployee normally doesn’t think, he receives orders. So, by Diego Parmado quoted in the opening of this article, thesepeoplesuddenlyfoundthemselvesasownersof Herna´n’spithyaccountofYPF’sprivatizationindicateshow acompany,andtheydidn’tknowhowtomanageit. the dissolution of the state-owned petroleum enterprise wasimmediatelytranslatedintoanimperativetocreatepri- ThiscorporateexecutivesuggestedthattheYPFianos’ vately owned service companies. YPFianos were not sim- difficultyinbecomingsuccessfulbusinessownersstemmed plydismissedbut,instead,toldtoremakethemselvesfrom fromtheirlackofanentrepreneurialdispositionasmuchas civil servants into corporate entrepreneurs. Likewise, the 706 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist socialrelationsthatboundtheseworkerswithinthecom- across the world. In 1915, the Argentine Bureau of Mines, panyweresupposedtobetransformed,withstatedepen- Geology,andHydrologysentanexplorationteamtoexam- dencyreplacedbycorporateindependence.AlthoughYPFi- ineapromisingspotforoildrillinginNeuque´nTerritory,on anosfrequentlydescribedYPF’sprivatizationas“dismem- thehighdesertofPatagonia.Whentheteamstruckoilthere beringtheYPFfamily,”itwasasmuchaprocessofputting threeyearslater,PresidentHipo´litoYrigoyendesignateda togethercorporateassociationsastakingapartstatalones. 70-square-kilometeroctagoncenteringonthefirstproduc- Herna´n spoke to me at length about his experience tivewellanationaloilreserveforexclusiveexplorationby as we sat at his desk while construction workers knocked stateagents(FavaroandBucciarelli1999:230).Aspetroleum down the walls around us to transform a long-neglected explorationturnedintocrudeoilextraction,thehastilyes- YPFbuildingintoofficesforhisemprendimiento,POLIP.He tablishedcampgrewintothecompanytownofPlazaHuin- leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and told me how cul, with administration buildings, employee barracks, a hetriedtoremakehimselffromanYPFunitheadwhoin- hospital,andotherfacilities.Thesettlementsscatterednear spectedequipmentintoPOLIP’smanagingdirector: it,inwhichdomesticandfieldlaborersandpeddlerslived, developedintotheadjoiningtownofCutralCo´. Whenitfelltometositatadeskandlookatthewhole As the national oil industry developed following the commercialpart,ittaxedme.Ididnotunderstandit; founding of YPF in 1922, the state-owned company en- I didnot understandit. Therefore,whatdid I have to courageditspredominantlymaleworkforcetoformnuclear do?Ihadtograbtheaccountantandsaytohim,“Ex- families in the oil towns. YPF and its closely allied union, plainthistome,explainwhatprofitis,explaintheValue la Federacio´n de Sindicatos Unidos Petroleros del Estado AddedTax,explainthe21percentthatwehavetopay, (SUPE),providedworkersbothwithwell-remuneratedem- explainwhatinsuranceis,”everythingthatIamlearn- ployment and with benefits that allowed them to support ing.Ihadtogopickingitupdaybyday.Nobodytaught wives and children. To promote women’s full-time care ittome.Look,nooneexplainedtome,“Whenyouas- of homes, children, and husbands, the YPF pay scale ac- semble a company, when you are the head, you have theyearendbonus,youhavethelawyers,youhavethe counted for a worker’s maritalstatus and number of chil- accountingpractice.”Itwasdifficult. dreninadditiontoposition,rank,andyearsofservice.Fur- thermore,men and women alike frequentlycataloged the Asotherstudiesofneoliberalprojectssuggest,thepri- “cradle-to-grave”servicesthatYPFcollaboratedwithSUPE vatization process encouraged the creation of corporate to provide in the oil towns. They built hospitals and clin- subjects who were responsible for their own education. A ics,rancommissaries,operatedmovietheaters,sponsored newbusinessmanlikeHerna´nhadtoactivelyseekbusiness sportsclubs,providedtransportation,andofferedpaidva- knowledgeandskills.Yet,Herna´ndidnotreschoolhimself cationsforYPFemployeesandtheirimmediatekin. byincreasinghisautonomyfromthestatebutbystrength- Beginninginthe1930s,companyarchitectsinBuenos eninghisengagementswithothers.Hedescribedthislearn- Aires designed housing projects to accommodate YPF’s ingprocessasbeingmadeupofaseriesofsomaticprac- growingworkforceandtobetterrealizeits“socialmission.” tices: “sitting down at a desk,” “looking at papers,” and ThecompanyhousingbuiltinPlazaHuinculincludednot “grabbing an accountant.” After stressing how taxing his onlymorebarracksforsinglemenandnewcommunalath- education was, he concluded, “Now this is simple for me leticandsocialfacilitiesbutalsorowhomesandbungalows because I have lived it in my own body.” In establishing for YPF worker families, differentiated by rank and family newaffinitiesandcollaborationandstrengtheningexisting size.Intheseresidences,YPFprovidedelectricity,heating, ones,Herna´nandhispartnersdrewonthetwofoldmean- andindoorplumbing.Whatismore,Iwastoldmanytimes, ingofYPFkinship,asasetofbothdomesticandindustrial a company employee would even come to change a light arrangements.Kinshipsentimentwasacrucialforceofpro- bulbwhenoneburnedout.Withfarfewerfamilydwellings duction (Yanagisako 2002) in the formation and develop- thanYPFfamilies,anYPFianotoldme,“afamilylogic”grew mentoftheemprendimientos.Toelaboratethis,Ifirstex- up with the company housing: YPF workers helped their plainthehistoricalbasisforthefamilialidiomandpractices sonsgetjobsinthecompany,passedtheirhousingtotheir usedintheArgentineoilindustry. sonswhentheyretired,andcontinuedtolivewiththeirsons afterretirement.Forfamiliesthatdidnotobtaincompany housingand,instead,builtorboughthomesinCutralCo´, YPF kinship YPFprovidedloans,constructionmaterials,andutilities.As The1879militaryexpeditionknownasthe“Conquestofthe oneYPFianoexplained,“YPF’spurposewasnotonlythatit Desert”subjugatedtheindigenousinhabitantsofPatagonia hadtoextractpetroleumbutalsothatithadtofittinglysup- andestablishedmilitarygarrisonstoimpedeChileanland portitspersonnel.” claims(Rock1987:154;Vin˜as2002)justaspetroleumgained Octavio Marquez was among my many informants prominenceastheprimaryengineofcapitalistproduction in northern Patagonia who described his family as “all 707 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 YPFiano”andenumeratedeachofhisrelativeswhohadla- timesrebellious,sonsintobondsoffamilialcooperationto boredforthecompany.HeexplainedthatworkingforYPF whichallmembersequallycontributed.Theyemphasized wasatraditionthatwashandeddownfromgenerationto how they each converted the final benefit they received generation like a family heirloom.15 The passing of posi- as state workers—their severance pay—into the founda- tionsinYPFfromfathertosonorson-in-lawwasmorethan tionfortheirjointventuresasemprendimientoowners.Al- an informal practice; YPF policy gave priority to children though only a few of the emprendimientos were worker of employees in hiring and guaranteed positions to rela- cooperatives, most worker–owners placed great emphasis tivesofemployeeswhowereincapacitatedorkilledatwork. on their shared labor histories and similar financial situ- Furthermore, oil worker families were increasingly linked ations to establish a parity in which the partners made together as the sons and daughters of YPFianos married equal investments, had an equal role in decision making, eachotherandformedtheirownhomes.Thus,onemean- andcontributedequalamountsofsweattokeeptheoilrigs ingofYPFkinshipwasconstitutedbythenumerousfami- andrefineriesrunning.Theirdefinitionofbusinesspartner- liesinwhichalmosteveryoneworkedforYPFandinwhich shipasbrotherhoodwasfacilitatedbythefactthattheem- domesticandindustrialrelationsintersectedsothatone’s prendimientoswerecomposedofYPFworkerswithinanar- brotherwasalsoone’sworkmateandone’sunclewasalso rowrangeofrankings,fromlaborerstoskilledworkers,but one’sboss. notupper-levelmanagersorengineers.Ingeneratingbusi- A second meaning of YPF kinship lay in its use as a ness partnerships as kinship bonds, the emprendimiento metaphorforthecompanyitself.YPFianosdiscussedtheir owners emphasized the mutual care within YPF families relationships to fellow workers through discourses of kin- whilede-emphasizingorexplicitlyrejectingtheunequaldi- ship and depicted the national oil company as a loving visionoflaborandhierarchicalrelationsthatwerealsocru- andcaring—ifstern—fatheror,sometimes,motherwitha cialaspectsofYPFEstatal. “head,”“heart,”“bosom,”andothercorporalparts.Speak- YPFianos described their emprendimientos as prod- ing on behalf of his workmates from an YPF refinery, an ucts of kin solidarity in a manner that paralleled the way YPFiano stated, “We gave our youth to YPF, but YPF took they spoke of the state oil company. For instance, when careofus.”Ofhisownexperience,herecounted,“Ientered I asked Herna´n de la Cruz why POLIP survived when so workonemorningandthatafternoonmyfirstsonwasborn many other emprendimientos succumbed to bankruptcy, ...andwhenIleft,Ihadgrandchildren.”Fusinghisindus- he turned off his cell phone so we would not be inter- trial and domestic relations as the giving and receiving of rupted and narrated the story of how “a strong human care,herhetoricallyasked,“Howcouldonenotlove[querer] groupformedinthecompany.”Herecountedhowthepart- thecompanythatoffered[brindaba]youeverything?”One ners “put all the force that they had” and “suffered in the ofhisworkmatessimplystated,“Everyonefeltthecompany flesh some months” to make sure the company survived. wasafamily.” Insteadofpayingtheirownsalaries,theypaidtheirdebts AlthoughthecriticsofYPFEstataldecrieda“cultureof tosuppliers,insurancepremiums,andtaxes.Heconcluded, dependency”andunhealthypaternalismoftheprebendal “Ittaxedusagreatdeal;therefore,itseemstome,ourcom- state,YPFianosdiscussedlaborrelationsasreciprocal,ifhi- binedeffort[esfuerzoenconjunto]islikeafamily.Ifevery- erarchical, practices of giving and receiving care in which onecontributesandeveryonehelps,Ibelievethatyoucan thecompanyandthehouseholdformedparalleldomains. move things forward.” When Herna´n asserted that POLIP ThisdoublesenseofYPFkinshipasreferringtobothanem- endured the hardships because it was organized around ploymentandadomesticunitwasacrucialresourcethat familybonds,heimpliedthathisandhispartners’unpaid YPFianos deployed during the privatization process. They labor was equivalent to parents’ work to ensure the sur- drew on kinship sentiments and familial relationships as vival of a newborn child. He asserted that sustaining in- they worked to remake themselves into business owners dustrialrelationswithintheprivatizedoilindustryrequired in the absence of important other resources like subsur- as much shared sacrifice and mutual assistance as it had facerights,sharesintheprivatizedcorporation,oraccessto in YPF Estatal. “Moving the emprendimiento forward” in- capital. volvedcombiningthisaffectivelaborwiththekindofcal- culativework,likemanagingpayrollandtaxes,thathepre- viouslydescribed. “Soup all around!” TheLucanofamilyprovidesavividillustrationofhow The YPFianos in emprendimientos reconfigured their af- YPFianos reconciled familial and commercial obligations fectiveattachmentstoYPFandtoeachothertodealwith in developing emprendimientos. Alberto Lucano came to the oil industry’s transformation and to generate associa- northern Patagonia as a teenager to take a job with YPF, tions largely removed from the purview of the state. They as his brother had a few years before him. There, he met aimedtore-formYPFlaborrelationsfrombondsbetween Teresa, who was the daughter in an YPFianofamily and a a domineering father and his obedient, although some- secretary at the YPF offices in Plaza Huincul. They soon 708 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist married.AlbertocontinuedtoworkforYPF,butTeresaleft father’sactionasacalculatedstrategytoleadhisemploy- when she was pregnant with their first child. Their three eestobemorededicatedtotheirjobs.Alberto,forhispart, children were born in the YPF hospital in Plaza Huincul, didnotseehimselfasbuyinghisemployees’commitment; raisedinaworkers’cooperativehousingcomplexinCutral myconversationswithhimmadeevidentthathewascon- Co´,andeducatedwithYPFfunding.LikemostYPFemploy- tinuingYPF’straditionofnourishingthosewhogavetheir ees, Alberto expected to work for the state company until labor. Providing soup was a compromise that allowed Al- he was ready to retire. When he was dismissed at age 50, bertotoreconcilethepaternalobligationhefelttocarefor AlbertowasamongtheenormousnumberofYPFianoswho hisemployeeswiththefinancialdemandsoftheprivatized were “too old to find a new job but too young to retire.” oilindustry. Thus, he joined a small group of skilled workers in YPF’s When I asked Alberto how his feelings about his em- explorationdivisiontoformNapalco,anemprendimiento prendimiento compared with what he had previously de- offeringoilwellmaintenanceservices. scribedtomeashislovingattachmenttoYPF,heanswered OnlyafewyearsafterNapalcowasfounded,Alberto’s that property ownership made his affection for Napalco daughter,CarolinaLucano,returnedfromuniversitytofind strongerthanhisloveforYPFhadbeen.Thisintensification herfather’semprendimientoonthebrinkofbankruptcy.As occurred,heexplained,becausethecompany“ismoreour a professional who credited her college education to her own,” and then he repeated more emphatically “because father’s work at YPF, Carolina repaid her debt by assisting it is ours.” Alberto credited YPF with having provided for Napalco in facing its financial disaster. She managed the him in almost every aspect of his life, including the (un- administrative aspects, while her father and his partners requested) opportunity to form his own business. Yet he conductedtheworkatthewells.Astheylaboredtosalvage statedthathiscareforcompanypropertyincreasedwhen Napalco, they translated the affective bonds that had ex- hewasdismissedfromYPF,becausetheoilcompanywas istedinYPFtofitthemeagerpossibilitiesavailabletosub- transformedfromstatetoprivateownership.Likeahouse contractorsintheprivatizedoilindustry.Carolinatoldme youownratherthanrent,Albertoanalogized,“youcando abouttheemprendimiento’sMayDaybarbeque(asado)as anything with what is yours, you do it and you are doing anexampleofhowherfatherandhispartners“lovedeach it for yourself.” He, like many of his contemporaries, sug- other like a family and acted accordingly.” The event was gestedthatprivatepropertyownershipwasnotonlyamore asmall-scaleadaptationoftheMayDaycelebrationsthat effective but also a more affective form of property rela- YPFEstatalandtheunionSUPEhadsponsoredeachyear. tionsthanthenationalownershipthathadpreviouslyex- In the photos Carolina showed me, the Napalco partners, istedintheArgentinepetroleumindustry.Theprivatization their wives, and children paused their celebration to put processhad,quiteunexpectedly,strengthenedhisaffective theirarmsaroundeachotherforthecamerainadisplayof attachments. affectionthatrecalledtheearliercelebrations. TheaffectivekindofpropertyownershipthatNapalco OnceNapalcobegantoincreaseitsbusinesscontracts embodiedemergedmostclearlyasitsownersattemptedto andhireafewtechnicians,theownersdrewontheirexpe- extend care not only to their growing group of employees rience in YPF Estatal to strengthen their microenterprise, buttotheirequipmentaswell.WhenAlberto’sdivisionof especiallytoincorporatethenewemployeeswhowerenot YPFEstatalwasdissolved,hisunit’struckswereconverted owners.Duringoneofourlongconversationsoverteaather from state to private property and sold to POLIP as part house,Carolinatoldmeastorythatdemonstratedhowher ofitsfirstcontractwithYPFSA.Carolinatoldmehowthe father took a role “as the bonding [aglutinante] element” Napalcopartnerscarefullymaintainedthesepossessionsas inestablishingkinrelationswithinNapalco:AteamofNa- anexampleoftheir“greatlovefortheircompany.”“Ifyou palcoworkerswasstayinginahotelwhiletheyworkedin getintooneoftheirtrucks,eventhoughitistenyearsold theCatrielextractionsite,andwhenitwastimefordinner ... everything is impeccable because they take care with theywouldsitdowntogetherinthehotel’smodestcafete- anenormousconsciousnessthatitistheirs.”WhenAlberto ria.There,Carolinatoldme,Alberto“wouldaskforthefood stoppedbythehouseafewhourslater,Carolinaaskedher andwouldsay,‘Soupforeveryone!’Likethefatherofafam- father to explain to me himself why he and his partners ily,that’showhewasseatedand[ordered]‘soupforevery- lovedNapalcowithsuchintensity.Albertoimmediatelyan- one, of course!’” As both worker and owner, Alberto tried swered,“Ihavealwayssaidthatourcompanywasanadop- toprovidesomeofthesamebenefitsforNapalco’semploy- tiveson.”Withouthavingheardmypreviousconversation ees that the national oil company had given to him in a with Carolina, he too used the truck to explicate this un- comparablesituation.Hecouldnotaffordtoofferthemas derstandingofhisbusinessasaweboflovingkinship.He abundantabuffetasYPFhadprovidedhimwhen hewas explained,“Becauseyouloveyoursonlikeadad,youlove ajuniorassistant,buthesawsoupwithdinnerasafitting him a lot. Also when you have an adoptive son that you substitute.Carolinaassertedthat“thethingoverthere[in raised from very small, you hold him with affection. For Catriel]iswhatgeneratesbelonging,”thusinterpretingher us,ittaxesusverygreatlytodetachourselvesfromthings. 709 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 Yesterday—wesoldatruck...”Ashesaidtheselastwords, patriarchic relationships between contractor and manag- thevoiceofthissexagenarian,burlyoilworkerbroke,and ing firm. At corporate headquarters in Neuque´n City, the hebegantocryaboutthelossofthisarmofhis“adoptive representatives of YPF-Repsol emphasized their efforts to son,”whichhadaccompaniedhimthroughallthetrialsof help emprendimiento owners overcome their lack of “en- birthingNapalcoandmakingthetransitionfromstateem- trepreneurialmentality,”butbackinarundownofficewith ployeetosmallbusinessowneratanadvancedage. abrokenwindowinPlazaHuincul,Iheardadifferentver- After Alberto recovered his composure, he told me sion of this history. As I sat in front of the electric heater howheandhispartnershaddiscussedbuildingapedestal with him, Andre´s Esposito, who never had been an YPF- mound and mounting the truck outside POLIP’s main ianobutbecamethedirectorofanemprendimientonamed buildingsoitcouldstandasatestamenttohowtheirem- OptaNeu, offered a spectacular description of how, in the prendimientowasborn.InwhatCarolinacalled“theown- processofteachingmanagerialskills,theoilcompanyman- ers’mentalmodel,”thetruckwasnotonlyapieceofprivate agerspresentedthemselvesasfulfillingaparentaloravun- propertywhosebenefitscouldbecalculatedintermsoffi- cularroletowhichtheYPFianoswerelongaccustomed: nancialrisksandpotentialprofitsbutalsoamemberofthe Napalcofamilythatwasowedrespectforits(his?)longevity It is like there is someone who doesn’t know how to and dedicated service. However, after a series of long dis- driveandyousay,“Iwillhelpyou.”Then,yousitnext to him and you say, “Well, you have to—the steering cussionswithCarolina,theNapalcopartnersrealizedthat wheel,thepedals—gofaster,gofaster.”Andwhenthey theyhadto“adapttothetimes,”trytoreplacetheiraffective go 120 [km/hour], you say, “Good, I’ll get off here.” relationshipwiththetruckwiththeproperlydetachedper- Then,theotherfindshimselfwithacarthatgoes120 spectiveofbusinessmen,andsellthisobjectoftheirlove. and believes he knows how to drive, but in reality he UnlikehisactionsatdinnerinCatriel,inthiscase,Alberto’s learnedapartofwhathehadtolearn.Andsoitgoes efforttomakehimselfintothecompanyfatherwasseverely thathecrashesonthefirstcurve. constrainedbyhiscontractualagreementwithYPF-Repsol. Napalco’sservicecontractwiththeoilcompanystipulated Andre´s’ssimileimpliesthatthecompanymanagers’in- themaximumageoftrucksthatcouldbedrivenintooilex- structions for steering their new oilfield service microen- tractionsites,and,regardlessofthepartners’effortstokeep terprises gave the emprendimiento owners a false sense itinexcellentcondition,theirswastooold. of their business aptitude and autonomy, which was de- Events such as a May Day barbeque and quotidian stroyedsoonafteritwasdeveloped.Insteadofteachingself- practices like eating soup and repairing a truck illustrate sufficiency, YPF SA’s tutorials made the emprendimiento howtheemprendimientoownersexpendedagreatdealof owners into “dependents” of the transnational company, labor and capital reinforcing loving relations within their providinglessonsthatAndre´sandhispartnersinOptaNeu servicecompaniesatthesametimethattheywereadopt- cametoviewquitecritically. ing calculative business methods. Carolina suggested that The kind of relationship the corporate executives establishing intimateconnectionsamongNapalco’s work- wanted to establish with the YPFianos became evident ers contributed to the emprendimiento’s success but that to Andre´s and several other emprendimiento directors in maintaininglovingattachmentstomaterialthingsblocked 1998, when YPF SA managers used the rapid drop in the themfrommakingproperbusinessdecisions.Albertosaw priceofcrudeoilonglobalmarketsasajustificationtore- thesameeventsfromtheperspectiveofafatherwhowas ducetheamounttheoilcompanypaidtheemprendimien- trying to keep his family united as they labored to over- tos for their services. By this time, more than a third of comethechallengesoftheirnewsituation.Alberto’sbusi- theemprendimientoshadclosed.Thosethathadsurvived nessacumenemergedthroughhiseffortstofindcompati- the tumultuous first years depended on YPF SA as their bilitiesbetweenhisloveforatruckandhisneedforcash. sole client as well as their principal counselor. Diego Par- He and his fellow emprendimiento owners reconciled the mado,whosestoryopensthisarticle,comanagedtheem- historicallaborrelationsoftheArgentineoilindustrywith prendimiento FESTA with a man named Edgar Mancini. therealitiesofthecorporateownershipofoilbycreatively Completingeachothers’sentenceslikeanoldmarriedcou- combiningcalculativeandnurturingtechniques. ple,DiegoandEdgarrecountedwithmorethanatouchof sarcasmhowanYPFSAaccountantcalledthem“strategic partners,”whentheywerereallypartners“inthelosses... Driving lessons butnotintheprofits.” Whereas the YPFianos in emprendimientos employed To further explicate the dynamic of FESTA’s partner- kinship discourse and practices of familial care to con- shipwithYPFSAatthattime,Diegorelatedthat,whenan struct, sustain, and expand their subcontracting busi- YPF SA accountant came to talk to him about renegotiat- nesses,theseniormanagersattheprivatizedoilcompany ing FESTA’s contract, the man sat down beside him like drew on the same notions of YPF kinship to establish anoldworkbuddy,pattedhimontheback,andusedthe 710

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ELANA SHEVER University of California, Berkeley Neoliberal associations: Property, company, and family in the Argentine oil fields A B S T R A C T At the time of the privatization of the Argentine oil industry in ThetransformationofArgentina’sstate-ownedoil theearly1990s,DiegoParmadowasoneof51,000workerswho companyintoatransnationaljoint-stock called themselves “YPFianos,” after the state-owned oil com- corporationandaseriesofworker-owned pany,YPFEstatal,forwhichtheylabored.Bornandraisedina subcontractingmicroenterprisesinnorthwestern Patagonianoiltown,hehadfollowedhisfatherandunclesinto Patagoniaprovidesanexampleofanactually YPFatage14,expectingtoretirefromthecompanyastheyhad.1Afterthe existingneoliberalproject.Inthisarticle,I stateoilcompanywasconvertedintoaprivatelyownedcorporation,Diego illustratehowthisprojectwasasmuchaprocessof andtheworkersinhisdivisionweredismissedfromtheirjobsbutweretold sustainingaffectiverelationalityasitwasaprocess tore-formtheirproductionunitsintoworker-ownedmicroenterprisesthat offosteringcalculativerationality.Theprivatization would offer subcontracting services to the newly formed “parent” com- processgeneratedcorporatesubjectsattached pany.Thischangeoccurredsorapidly,Diegoexplained,that“youwentto throughfamilialassociationsofproperty,company, sleepatnightwithababybottleandthenextdayyougotupwithatieand andfamily.Kinshipsentimentwasalsothecrucial briefcase.”WithhisKafkaesquevisionofmetamorphosis,Diegocaptured forcethatincorporatedformerstateoilworkersinto an understanding, shared by his fellow YPFianos, that this formal con- theinequitablecircuitsoftheglobalpetroleum versionofstateworkersintosmall-businessownershappenedovernight. industry.Iarguethatthisneoliberalprocesswas However,theirsubstantivetransformationwasafarmorearduousandex- effectiveinasmuchasitworkedaffectively. tendedprocess.BodiestoughenedbyyearsoflaborintheharshPatagonian [neoliberal,kinship,property,affect,corporations, oilfieldsdidnoteasilyfitintobusinesssuitsmeantfordeskwork. structuraladjustment,petroleum,Argentina] NeoliberalprojectsliketheoneexperiencedbytheYPFianosconstitute efforts to alter how commodities and services are produced, distributed, and consumed across the world. In the process, they remake the people who produce, distribute, and consume these commodities and services. Oneofthemostprominentpiecesofthe“neoliberalreform”inArgentina wastheconversionofYPFEstatalintoaprivatelyownedtransnationaloil corporation(YPFSA,laterrenamedYPF-Repsol)andaseriesofmicroen- terprisesknownasemprendimientos.2WhenthevastmajorityofYPFianos lost their jobs during this process, many became worker–owners in em- prendimientos.Yetonlyafewremainedintheoilindustryadecadelater. In this article, I examine how these remarkable state oil workers remade themselves into business owners and maintained their microenterprises foradozenormoreyearsagainstseeminglyimpossibleodds.Iarguethat themenandthefewwomenwhosustainedemprendimientosemployed kinshipdiscourseandpracticesoffamilialcaretostrengthentheaffective dimensionoftheirlaborrelations,despitestateandcorporatepoliciesthat AMERICANETHNOLOGIST,Vol.35,No.4,pp.701–716,ISSN0094-0496,online ISSN1548-1425.(cid:2)C 2008bytheAmericanAnthropologicalAssociation.Allrightsreserved. DOI:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.00106.x AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 dismantled familial privileges in the oil industry and en- tionofeconomicaction,andthetransferofstate-owneden- couraged dispassionate calculations in their place. I also terprisesandservicestocorporateentities.Thefinalitem show how kin-based obligations became a problem for inthislist,commonlyknownas“privatization,”occupiesa thesebusinessownersatthesametimethataffectivebonds prominentplaceinneoliberaltheoryandpolicybecauseit were assets that they used to develop their businesses. In purportedlysolvesoverlappingproblemsofgovernment— short, I analyze how this neoliberal project was both en- includingthecorruptibilityofstaterepresentatives,their- abledandtroubledbytheYPFianos’kinshipsentimentsand rationalityofstateregulation,andthepoorqualityofstate familialrelationships. services—withstrategiesembodyingcoreneoliberalbeliefs Thearchitectsoftheso-calledneoliberalreforminAr- intheefficiencyofprivatebusinessesandintheimpartial gentina stressed the privatization of state enterprises and judgmentof“themarket”(IMF1998:5–6).Thestatedgoals services as the panacea for multiple ills, including state of privatization schemes have shifted over time yet have debt,bureaucraticcorruption,marketinefficiency,andthe consistently included increasing economic efficiency and failure of both import-substitution industrialization and promotingprivatepropertyownership(Manzetti1999:14– statewelfaretomakeArgentinaintothe“FirstWorld”na- 16;MegginsonandNetter2001:321).Mostofthepolicylit- tionmanybelieveditcouldbe.Thestate-ledprocessofpri- eratureidentifiesfactorsthatleadstatestoadoptneoliberal vatizingYPFtransferredpropertyrightsandindustrialman- “structuraladjustments”butrarelyquestionstheeconomic agement from state to corporate actors, and state agents rationalityonwhichtheyrest.Forinstance,astudyofpri- assumed that their juridical and administrative changes vatization in four Latin American countries asks why nu- would inevitably lead to modifications in YPF employees’ merousstatescarriedoutmassiveprivatizationprojectsin dispositionsandrelationships.However,Iargue,YPF’spri- the1990sbutnotinthe1970sand1980s,despite“making vatization did not generate the entrepreneurial individu- perfecteconomicsenseinmanycountries”sincetheearly als that were advertised as the product of neoliberalism 1970s(Manzetti1999:1,4–5). but, rather, re-formed relational subjects attached to and Theanthropologistswhohavetackled“neoliberalism” through affective associations of property, company, and in recent years have taken a decidedly distinct approach family. fromthatofpolicy-orientedsocialscientists.Theburgeon- To scrutinize the reconfiguration of personhood and inganthropologicalscholarshiponneoliberalismhascon- socialrelationsinthenameofneoliberalism,Iexplorehow tributed significant insight into the effects of neoliberal stateworkers–turned–businessownersdeployednotionsof projectsoneverydaylifebytackingbetweenneoliberalpoli- YPF kinship to reshape three sites: oil workers’ “start-up” ciesandtheirofficialdiscourse,ontheonehand,andthe oil service emprendimientos, the transnational “parent” quotidianexperienceofneoliberalprograms,ontheother corporationthatcontractedthem,andworkers’kin-based hand.Itpersuasivelyshowsthatthemovefromstate-ledto households.3 In the northern Patagonian oil fields and market-based government has involved far more than re- towns, the state oil workers who became small-business moving state and social controls over economic relations. owners maintained, but also refashioned, the labor rela- Much of this work points to a radical new form of cap- tionsofthepaternalisticstatecompanyandtheiraffective italism spreading across the world today. It portrays ne- attachments to YPF. They envisioned their industrial rela- oliberalismasrepresentingaprofoundbreakbetweenthe tions in familial terms, preferentially hired and promoted era of state-led development and the era of accelerated theirfellowYPFianos,andsupportedtheirkin,muchasthe globalization. statecompanyhaddone.Theyalsoreconciledtheseactsof A special issue of Public Culture provides a seminal carewithcalculativestrategiesforgeneratingaproductive elaborationofneoliberalismasthehegemonicformofcapi- workforce and a viable business. At the same time that it talismemergingattheturnofthe21stcentury.Intheissue’s providesavividexampleofanactuallyexistingneoliberal introduction,JeanComaroffandJohnComaroffassertthat project,thisanalysisreverberatesbeyondtheArgentineoil “neoliberalismaspires,initsideologyandpractice,tointen- fields because it suggests that affect, as muchas rational- sify the abstractions inherent in capitalism itself: to sepa- ity,hasbeenacrucialcomponentofneoliberalprojects(see rate labor power from its human context, to replace soci- alsoRofel2007). etywiththemarket,tobuildauniverseoutofaggregated transactions” (2000:305). They further argue that neolib- eralism has already changed “the phenomenology of be- Analyzing neoliberal projects ingintheworld,”albeitunevenly(ComaroffandComaroff The large body of policy-oriented scholarship defines ne- 2000:305).4Harveyconcursthatneoliberalismhasbecome oliberalism as a series of ideologically aligned processes devastatinglyhegemonicinthecontemporarymomentbut thatincludeashiftfromstatetoforeigninvestmentineco- challengesthefitbetweenneoliberalideologyandpractice. nomic ventures, an increased focus on exportation as a Heassertsthatadvocatesandpractitionersofneoliberalism strategyforincomegeneration,adecreaseinstateregula- use a benevolent discourse about rights and freedoms to 702 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist mask“thegrimrealitiesoftherestorationorreconstitution onia.Indoingso,IjoinLisaHoffman,MonicaDeHart,and ofnakedclasspower,locallyaswellastransnationally,but StephenCollierinassertingtheneedto“reassessneoliber- most particularly in the main financial centres of global alism’scoherenceasahegemonicproject,anditsstability capitalism”(Harvey2005:118–119).Harveyandotherschol- asapredictable‘package’ofpolicies,ideologiesandpolit- arshavesingledoutprivatizationschemesfortheirspectac- icalinterests”(2006:9).Iaimtodothisandabitmore:to ularfailurestoliveuptotheirpromises,theirdramaticesca- show not only that the privatization of Argentina’s state- lationofpovertyandinequality,andtheirfragmentationof owned oil company failed to constitute a coherent bun- communalbelonging.5Muchofthescholarshiponneolib- dle of ideas and practices based on universal norms but eralismhighlightsthepenetrationofmarketrelationsinto also that it was achieved using forces it was supposed to newsitesandthepolarizationofworldpopulationsalong eliminate,namely,familialsentimentsandpracticesofkin- myriadaxes. ship.Asaresult,Idemonstrate,theneoliberalprojectcar- Ratherthanportrayingneoliberalismasthelateststage riedoutintheArgentineoilindustrydidnotgenerateau- ofcapitalism,severalanthropologistshaveemployedanan- tonomized individuals who “enterprise[d] themselves” as alyticofgovernmentalitytoconceptualizeneoliberalismas they enterprised their work (Rose 1996:57; see also Rose asetofgoverningtechniquesthatworkbyshapingmarket 1998). Instead, processes of economic restructuring pre- relationssothatpeoplelearntogovernthemselves.These senteddilemmasthroughwhichpeoplenegotiatedcalcu- anthropologists engage scholars in other fields who have lativeandcaringpractices,detachedandlovingaffect,and scrutinized the development of a neoliberal rationality or nurturing and disciplining governing techniques. I show “styleofthinking,”andthenormsofhumanbehavioritsug- how these dilemmas generated thoroughly relational and gests,buttheyseldomconsideritsactualization.6Elizabeth affectivecorporatesubjectswho, in turn,embodiednovel C.Dunn(2004),however,employsethnographicinvestiga- formulationsofagencyandsociality. tiontoshowthatforeignneoliberalnormsofrationalityand subjectivitywereintroduced,althoughnotfaithfullyrepli- The juridical process cated,whenababy-foodfactorywasprivatizedinpostso- cialistPoland.7OthercriticalstudieshaveshownhowNGO The privatization of Argentina’s state-owned enterprises representatives, medical practitioners,and other nonstate and services was not a policy imposed by the IMF and actors have taken over governing positions previously oc- its Argentine allies on an unwilling population but an cupiedbystateagents,forexample,asprovidersofhealth experimental process shaped by differently positioned care. participants to different degrees.9 Although YPF employ- Although ethnographic studies of actually existing ees were largely unable to direct the legal and legislative neoliberalisms provide nuance to the frequently broad- aspects of this process, the charismatic Peronist leader brushed portraits of neoliberalism as the newest capital- CarlosMenemwaswellsituatedwithinmultiplenetworks ist logic or ideology, they tend to de-emphasize the fail- ofpowertoplayacrucialroleinguidingit.WhenMenem ures of state welfare and development and to neglect the became president in 1989, he surprised many Argentines, continuitiesbetweenneoliberalandotherregimesofrule. including his own Peronist Party (Partido Justicialista) Theyalsotendtooverlookthewaysinwhichpeoplepartic- membership,byintensifyingandexpandingthetransition ipate in advancing neoliberal projects. In particular, there fromstate-supportedimport-substitutionindustrialization hasbeenscantethnographicattentiontothecorporateac- to corporate ownership and management of Argentine torswhoparticipateinneoliberalprojects.8Thescholarship industry, commerce, and banking, which the military alsoglidesoverthedistinctionsamongneoliberalprojects dictatorship (1976–83) had initiated and the first postdic- and,intheprocess,frequentlysuggestsauniversalneolib- tatorship administration (of Rau´l Alfons´ın, 1983–89) had eralsubject.It,thereby,forgetsthattheseprojectsarestill haltinglypursued.Theconcomitantdeunionizationofthe unfoldingandcomestoprematureconclusionsaboutne- PeronistPartyallowedMenemtofillhiscabinetwithpromi- oliberalism’seffects. nentbusinessmen,ratherthantheexpectedPeronistunion In this article, I describe the privatization of YPF as leaders. In accordance with guidelines from multilateral an unfinished process in which an experiment known as lendingagenciesofferingsubstantialbutconditionalloans, “neoliberalism” has been translated into a series of situ- these corporate executives and their foreign collaborators atedpracticesintheArgentineoilfieldsandtowns.Inother quickly devalued the Argentine currency, suspended the words, the Argentine petroleum industry has served as a legalrestrictionsonforeigninvestment,dismantledunion laboratoryforreformerstryingtofigureouthowtoturncer- institutions,andannouncedtheimminentprivatizationof tain speculative ideas about the ideal relationship among stateenterprisesandservices.Thesewerethefirststepsina state,economy,andsocietyintoamaterialrealityon,and processthatscholarshavelabeled“aneoliberalrevolution” under, the ground. I focus on how this process unfolded (Acun˜a 1994:31). Between 1991 and 1994, the Menem between 1989 and 2005 in northwestern Argentine Patag- administration transferred ownership and control of 703 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 90 percent of Argentina’s state enterprises and public ExistingstudiesoftheprivatizationofArgentina’sstate services to conglomerates of business corporations and companiesandservicesconcludewiththesejuridicaland banks(IMF1998:5). administrativechanges,butendingthestoryofYPF’spriva- YacimientosPetrol´ıferosFiscales(YPFEstatal)wasthe tizationhereisdeceptive.Doingsogivesafalsesenseofthe world’s oldest vertically integrated national oil company. efficacyoflegaldiscourseandbureaucraticstructurestore- In part because it was also the largest enterprise in Ar- makesocialworlds,anditignoresthefarmessierprocessby gentina, the Menem administration selected it as one of whichcorporateenterpriseswerecarvedfromtheremains thefirsttoprivatize.AfterCongressapprovedtwolawsthat ofastatecompanyandcorporatesubjectsweremoldedout greatlyexpandedexecutiveauthorityearlyinMenem’sfirst of state workers. Although the sale of YPF to Repsol may term, Menem began issuing presidential “decrees of ne- seem, in hindsight, the culmination of a coherent neolib- cessityandurgency”thattransferredmanystateassetsto eral policy implemented by a collaboration between the corporate entities. The decrees ended state control of oil Menemadministrationandtransnationalinstitutions,itis prices and production levels, terminated YPF’s monopoly betterunderstoodasaresultofaprocessthatinvolvednu- on the sale of crude oil within Argentina, eliminated tar- merousdifferentlypositionedpeopleexperimentingwitha iffs on importing and exporting fuels, and suspended the mixtureofstrategiesascircumstanceschangedandinitial YPF union’s collective-bargaining contract (Etchemendy techniquesfailedtoproducedesiredresults.Theabridged 2001:11–12; Murillo 2001:153). Moreover, the Menem ad- chronicleofeventsgivenaboveonlybeginstoillustratehow ministration appointed corporate trustees who renegoti- a wide variety of actors who had previously managed the ated YPF contracts with the privately owned companies stateownershipofpetroleumdidnotfadefromviewbutfa- that provided services from exploration to transportation, cilitatedtheshifttocorporateownershipandcontrol.More- began granting concessions to other oil companies, and over,thetermprivatizationtooreadilybundlestogethera entered into joint ventures to extract petroleum. The Ar- setofcomplexandcontradictoryprocessesthatdeveloped gentineCongressaffirmedMenem’sprivatizationoftheoil overmorethanadecadeandwhoseeffectsarenotyetfully industry when it approved the Privatization of Hydrocar- realized. Thus far, this process has remade the people in- bonsandYPFLawin1992(Llanos2002:137–152).Thisact volvedintheoilindustryasmuchasithasreconfiguredthe legallysanctionedthereconstitutionofYPFEstatalasYPF propertyandotherlegalrelationsofthestate. SA,thatis,theconversionofthestateoilenterpriseintoa In Mexico, Cori Hayden (2003:44–47) points out, the joint-stockcorporation,whichwasalreadywellunderway. juridicalreconfigurationofprivatepropertyerasedindige- It also enabled the transfer of $5.6 billion in foreign debt nous claims to territory, materials, and knowledge while fromthecompanytothestate,avastreductionofYPF’sla- enabling national and corporate claims. Similarly, in Ar- borforce,andtheformationoftheemprendimientos.10As gentina,thelegalconfigurationofanewdomainofprivate itsenormousdebtwasrepositionedanditsexpenseswere petrolicpropertyelevatedsomepropertyclaimswhilefore- cut,YPF’sfinancespassedfromadeficitof$576millionin closingothers.Forinstance,eachoftheprivatizationlaws 1990 to a profit of $400 million two years later (Manzetti included a provision establishing a Participatory Property 1999:115). Program to incorporate state workers into the privatized The company directors began selling shares of stock companies by making them shareholders with a “stake” tocorporations,banks,andindividualinvestorsonlyafter inthenewfirms.However,theprocessofcreatingprivate YPFSA’sprofitabilitywasestablishedandthecompanyhad ownershipdidnotfollowitslegaldiscourseaboutinclusion become more enticing to investors. The initial offering of and representation.11 The workers still engaged by YPF at 45percentofYPF’sstockontheNewYorkStockExchange thetimeofitsconversionintoajoint-stockcompanywere inJune1993generatedmorethan$3billionforstatecoffers givena(minuscule)percentageofthenewcorporatestock, in a matter of weeks (Gerchunoff and Ca´novas 1996:210– buttheywerealsodispossessedoftheirentitlementtostate 211).Althoughthe1992privatizationlawrequiredthestate employmentandbenefits,includinghousing,healthcare, to retain ownership of more than half of YPF SA’s shares, andlivableretirementpensions.Then,thecompanydirec- Congressamendeditseveraltimestoallowthestatetosell torsillegallyrescindedtheseworkers’sharesofstockwhen more of its shares, and, shortly thereafter, private share- theydismissedthemfromthecompany.Initiativeslikethe holders’stakeeclipsedthatofthestate.In1999,thepriva- ParticipatoryPropertyProgrampromisedthestateoilwork- tizedSpanishnationalpetroleumcompany,Repsol,bought ersinclusionintheprivateownershipofpetroleum,butthe theArgentinestate’sremainingsharesofstockandrenamed privatizedindustryexcludedthevastmajorityofYPFianos. the company YPF-Repsol SA. The Menem administration AtthesametimethatYPFianoswerebeingmultiplyex- usedthemoneyfromitssharestorepaysomeofthestate’s cludedfromparticipationinYPFSA,foreigninvestorswere foreigndebts,butRepsolhasusedthestocktomakeenor- gaining an increasing percentage of the company’s stock. mousprofitseversince. YPF’sprivatizationwascelebratedininternationalbusiness 704 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist circles as a neoliberal success story, while it was decried rary measure to ease the transition to a privatized indus- in the Argentine press as giving away “grandmother’s last try. In Plaza Huincul and Cutral Co´, YPFianos founded 45 jewels” (e.g., compare Clar´ın 1999 with Wall Street Jour- differentemprendimientos,ingroupsofworker–ownersas nal 1999). This frequently repeated metaphor portraying smallasthreeinsomecasesandaslargeas200inothers.Al- petroleumasafamilyheirloomillustratesthatmanyArgen- thoughafewoftheseventureswereorganizedasworkerco- tinessawtheconversionofoilfromstatetocorporateprop- operativesliketheauto-partsfactoryportrayedinthefilm ertyasalossofanationaltreasureandabetrayalofkin.This The Take (Lewis 2005), many more were organized along process of transforming the Argentine oil industry played morenormativelycapitalistlinesandreproducedthehier- outquitedramaticallyintheoiltownsofPlazaHuinculand archical structure of YPF Estatal’s production units. Many CutralCo´,situatedonthedesertplateauofnorthernPatag- oftheemprendimientosclosedbytheendof1993,butthe onia,towhichInowturn. onesdiscussedinthisarticlesurvivedatleastuntil2005. InPlazaHuinculandCutralCo´,aselsewhere,oilwork- erswereexpectedtomakethechangefromstateemployees The Patagonian “start-ups” tosmall-businessownersjustasquicklyasMenemsigned The state’s sale of YPF SA stock had little impact on the the law that remade YPF Estatal into YPF SA. Although lives of the investors who bought shares, but the process YPFianosweretoldtorefashiontheirYPFunitsintoinde- ofrealizingthesesalesdramaticallyreconfiguredtheevery- pendent service providers, the vast majority of the public daylivesofthetensofthousandsofYPFianosinoiltowns assets they produced and handled did not become their acrossArgentina.Morethansimplyalegalreclassification, private property. Furthermore, the privatized YPF SA did the privatization of YPF enabled the reduction in its per- notprovidethewelfarebenefitstoitssubcontractorsthat sonnelfrom51,000employeesinDecember1990to8,000 thestatehadprovidedtoitsworkers.Theirhealthcarewas in December 1993.12 After YPF-Repsol moved its regional transferredfromtheYPFhospitalsandclinicstotheover- headquartersfromthecompanytownofPlazaHuinculto burdened and inferior state system, their company hous- theprovincialcapitalofNeuque´n,PlazaHuinculandneigh- ingwassoldasprivaterealestate,andtheYPFclubsthat boringCutralCo´ losttheirspecialstatusastownsthatfu- housed social, sports, and entertainment programs were eled the nation, and their unemployment rate rose above left to fall, or be taken, to pieces (see Figure 1). Increased 20percent.13NumerousYPFianosbitterlyrecallthat,atthe subcontractingwasatechniqueemployedworldwidebyoil samemomentthatYPFSA’sprofitsbegantosoar,theyar- executiveseagertodecreasecorporatecostsandliabilities, rivedfortheirshiftstofindlonglistsofthosewhohadbeen but in Argentina it especially served to shift the respon- dismissedpinnedtothefenceoutsidetherefinery.Inmyr- sibility for rising unemployment and falling welfare away iad additional ways, the legal conversion of oil from pub- fromcorporateandstateactorsandontotheshouldersof lictoprivatepropertyreplacedtheclaimsofstateworkers workers. and their families with those of corporate executives and Theformerstateworkerswhobecamepartnersinem- shareholders, most of whom were historically, geographi- prendimientos continued to do almost everything neces- cally,andsociallyremovedfromtheArgentineoilfields. sary for petroleum production—from geological imaging Theprivatizedoilcorporationpromptlyceasedtopro- and well drilling to pipeline cleaning and paper filing— duce petroleum in any straightforward sense; YPF SA be- but without the guarantees of stable employment with cameamanagementfirm.Itssmalllaborforcedidnotex- high, predictable wages and numerous benefits they had plore, drill, or refine oil but negotiated, supervised, and had as state workers. In addition to doing for the pri- audited those who did. Of the 43,000 veteran oil work- vatecorporationsmuchthesameworktheyhaddonefor ersacrossthecountrywholeftthestateenterpriseduring the state oil company, they also assumed complex new the conversion of YPF Estatal to YPF SA, some were for- responsibilities—including negotiating contracts, manag- mally laid off, some accepted early retirement packages, inglargecashflows,providinginsurance,obtainingcredit, andotherswereforciblyretired.InnorthernPatagonia,as and paying business taxes—for which they were unpre- in Argentina’s other oil regions, the majority left because pared.Towardtheostensibleendofhelpingworkersmake they were instructed by their bosses and their union to thistransition,YPFSAgaveeachemprendimientoano-bid convert their YPF units into emprendimientos, special oil contractforafewyears,soldeachofthemthe(faroutdated) servicemicroenterprisescollectivelyowned,managed,and equipmentthattheworkershadusedinYPFEstatal,andes- staffedbyformerstateoilworkers.14 Theemprendimiento tablishedschedulesforrepaymentofdebtsfromthesesales programpromisedworkersthattheycouldretaintheiroil withdeductionsfromtheemprendimientos’earnings.The sector jobs and “stake” in the industry, only now through emprendimientos’subcontractsdidnotautomaticallygen- subcontractingagreementsbetweentheemprendimientos erate the entrepreneurial subjectivity that they were sup- theyownedandthegiantcorporationtheydidnot.Theem- posedto,andthenewemprendimientopartnersstruggled prendimiento program was initially intended as a tempo- tofigureouthowtomakethetransitionfromstateworkers 705 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 Figure1. TheYPFmovietheaterinPlazaHuincul,whichwasshutdownafterthecompanywasprivatized.PhotobyE.Shever. tobusinessowners.Theyfrequentlyturnedforhelptothe theirlackoffinancialandadministrativeskills.Hedidnot small group of YPF Estatal bosses who had become man- mentioneithertheirinsufficientcapitalortheirsubstantial agersintheprivatizedoilcompany. debtstotheprivatizedYPF. The upper-level supervisors who retained their jobs TheexperienceofHerna´ndelaCruzprovidesanillus- in the privatized corporation asserted that they assisted trationofhowYPFianosunderstoodthedifficultiesoflearn- theemprendimientoownersinbecomingindependent“en- ing to manage an emprendimientoin terms distinct from trepreneurs.” At YPF-Repsol’s posh high-tech office build- those of the corporate managers. When a mutual friend inginNeuque´nCity,anhour’sdrivefromPlazaHuincul,an introduced us, I never would have guessed that Herna´n YPF-Repsolexternal-relationsmanagerexplainedthatcor- was the managing director of a company with more than poraterepresentativessuchashe“hadtochangethemen- 100workers.Hewasaburlymanwhoappearedolderthan talityofthesepeoplealittle,becausetheywereemployees, his 48 years, with a head of salt-and-pepper hair and the notentrepreneurs.”WhenIaskedhimtoclarifythediffer- leathery skin of someone who had spent most of his life encebetweenthesetwosubjectpositions,hestated, outdoors. Despite his new position, he continued to wear the sweater, jeans, and boots of the field foreman he pre- To be an employee is to be dependent. For example, viously had been. Between drags on a cigarette in a cold in a bar there is the owner, who is the entrepreneur, YPF warehouse-turned-office, he told me how he learned andtheothersareallemployees.Here,theownerwas ofYPF’sprivatization:“Onedaytheshiftdirectorappeared the state and everybody was an employee, you un- and said, ‘YPF Estatal is finished.’ They just announced, derstand.Theydidn’thavethementalitytoadvancea ‘Gentlemen, it is finished.’” Herna´n repeated for empha- business, because the business belonged to the state. sis,“YPFdirectlyinformedthemanagement,andtheyin- And so when they became entrepreneurs they didn’t formedalltheemployeesthatYPFwasfinishedandthatall know anything, they had no entrepreneurial mental- ity, and they were missing the management. An em- ofthesectorshadtoformcompanies.”Likethecomment ployee normally doesn’t think, he receives orders. So, by Diego Parmado quoted in the opening of this article, thesepeoplesuddenlyfoundthemselvesasownersof Herna´n’spithyaccountofYPF’sprivatizationindicateshow acompany,andtheydidn’tknowhowtomanageit. the dissolution of the state-owned petroleum enterprise wasimmediatelytranslatedintoanimperativetocreatepri- ThiscorporateexecutivesuggestedthattheYPFianos’ vately owned service companies. YPFianos were not sim- difficultyinbecomingsuccessfulbusinessownersstemmed plydismissedbut,instead,toldtoremakethemselvesfrom fromtheirlackofanentrepreneurialdispositionasmuchas civil servants into corporate entrepreneurs. Likewise, the 706 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist socialrelationsthatboundtheseworkerswithinthecom- across the world. In 1915, the Argentine Bureau of Mines, panyweresupposedtobetransformed,withstatedepen- Geology,andHydrologysentanexplorationteamtoexam- dencyreplacedbycorporateindependence.AlthoughYPFi- ineapromisingspotforoildrillinginNeuque´nTerritory,on anosfrequentlydescribedYPF’sprivatizationas“dismem- thehighdesertofPatagonia.Whentheteamstruckoilthere beringtheYPFfamily,”itwasasmuchaprocessofputting threeyearslater,PresidentHipo´litoYrigoyendesignateda togethercorporateassociationsastakingapartstatalones. 70-square-kilometeroctagoncenteringonthefirstproduc- Herna´n spoke to me at length about his experience tivewellanationaloilreserveforexclusiveexplorationby as we sat at his desk while construction workers knocked stateagents(FavaroandBucciarelli1999:230).Aspetroleum down the walls around us to transform a long-neglected explorationturnedintocrudeoilextraction,thehastilyes- YPFbuildingintoofficesforhisemprendimiento,POLIP.He tablishedcampgrewintothecompanytownofPlazaHuin- leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and told me how cul, with administration buildings, employee barracks, a hetriedtoremakehimselffromanYPFunitheadwhoin- hospital,andotherfacilities.Thesettlementsscatterednear spectedequipmentintoPOLIP’smanagingdirector: it,inwhichdomesticandfieldlaborersandpeddlerslived, developedintotheadjoiningtownofCutralCo´. Whenitfelltometositatadeskandlookatthewhole As the national oil industry developed following the commercialpart,ittaxedme.Ididnotunderstandit; founding of YPF in 1922, the state-owned company en- I didnot understandit. Therefore,whatdid I have to courageditspredominantlymaleworkforcetoformnuclear do?Ihadtograbtheaccountantandsaytohim,“Ex- families in the oil towns. YPF and its closely allied union, plainthistome,explainwhatprofitis,explaintheValue la Federacio´n de Sindicatos Unidos Petroleros del Estado AddedTax,explainthe21percentthatwehavetopay, (SUPE),providedworkersbothwithwell-remuneratedem- explainwhatinsuranceis,”everythingthatIamlearn- ployment and with benefits that allowed them to support ing.Ihadtogopickingitupdaybyday.Nobodytaught wives and children. To promote women’s full-time care ittome.Look,nooneexplainedtome,“Whenyouas- of homes, children, and husbands, the YPF pay scale ac- semble a company, when you are the head, you have theyearendbonus,youhavethelawyers,youhavethe counted for a worker’s maritalstatus and number of chil- accountingpractice.”Itwasdifficult. dreninadditiontoposition,rank,andyearsofservice.Fur- thermore,men and women alike frequentlycataloged the Asotherstudiesofneoliberalprojectssuggest,thepri- “cradle-to-grave”servicesthatYPFcollaboratedwithSUPE vatization process encouraged the creation of corporate to provide in the oil towns. They built hospitals and clin- subjects who were responsible for their own education. A ics,rancommissaries,operatedmovietheaters,sponsored newbusinessmanlikeHerna´nhadtoactivelyseekbusiness sportsclubs,providedtransportation,andofferedpaidva- knowledgeandskills.Yet,Herna´ndidnotreschoolhimself cationsforYPFemployeesandtheirimmediatekin. byincreasinghisautonomyfromthestatebutbystrength- Beginninginthe1930s,companyarchitectsinBuenos eninghisengagementswithothers.Hedescribedthislearn- Aires designed housing projects to accommodate YPF’s ingprocessasbeingmadeupofaseriesofsomaticprac- growingworkforceandtobetterrealizeits“socialmission.” tices: “sitting down at a desk,” “looking at papers,” and ThecompanyhousingbuiltinPlazaHuinculincludednot “grabbing an accountant.” After stressing how taxing his onlymorebarracksforsinglemenandnewcommunalath- education was, he concluded, “Now this is simple for me leticandsocialfacilitiesbutalsorowhomesandbungalows because I have lived it in my own body.” In establishing for YPF worker families, differentiated by rank and family newaffinitiesandcollaborationandstrengtheningexisting size.Intheseresidences,YPFprovidedelectricity,heating, ones,Herna´nandhispartnersdrewonthetwofoldmean- andindoorplumbing.Whatismore,Iwastoldmanytimes, ingofYPFkinship,asasetofbothdomesticandindustrial a company employee would even come to change a light arrangements.Kinshipsentimentwasacrucialforceofpro- bulbwhenoneburnedout.Withfarfewerfamilydwellings duction (Yanagisako 2002) in the formation and develop- thanYPFfamilies,anYPFianotoldme,“afamilylogic”grew mentoftheemprendimientos.Toelaboratethis,Ifirstex- up with the company housing: YPF workers helped their plainthehistoricalbasisforthefamilialidiomandpractices sonsgetjobsinthecompany,passedtheirhousingtotheir usedintheArgentineoilindustry. sonswhentheyretired,andcontinuedtolivewiththeirsons afterretirement.Forfamiliesthatdidnotobtaincompany housingand,instead,builtorboughthomesinCutralCo´, YPF kinship YPFprovidedloans,constructionmaterials,andutilities.As The1879militaryexpeditionknownasthe“Conquestofthe oneYPFianoexplained,“YPF’spurposewasnotonlythatit Desert”subjugatedtheindigenousinhabitantsofPatagonia hadtoextractpetroleumbutalsothatithadtofittinglysup- andestablishedmilitarygarrisonstoimpedeChileanland portitspersonnel.” claims(Rock1987:154;Vin˜as2002)justaspetroleumgained Octavio Marquez was among my many informants prominenceastheprimaryengineofcapitalistproduction in northern Patagonia who described his family as “all 707 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 YPFiano”andenumeratedeachofhisrelativeswhohadla- timesrebellious,sonsintobondsoffamilialcooperationto boredforthecompany.HeexplainedthatworkingforYPF whichallmembersequallycontributed.Theyemphasized wasatraditionthatwashandeddownfromgenerationto how they each converted the final benefit they received generation like a family heirloom.15 The passing of posi- as state workers—their severance pay—into the founda- tionsinYPFfromfathertosonorson-in-lawwasmorethan tionfortheirjointventuresasemprendimientoowners.Al- an informal practice; YPF policy gave priority to children though only a few of the emprendimientos were worker of employees in hiring and guaranteed positions to rela- cooperatives, most worker–owners placed great emphasis tivesofemployeeswhowereincapacitatedorkilledatwork. on their shared labor histories and similar financial situ- Furthermore, oil worker families were increasingly linked ations to establish a parity in which the partners made together as the sons and daughters of YPFianos married equal investments, had an equal role in decision making, eachotherandformedtheirownhomes.Thus,onemean- andcontributedequalamountsofsweattokeeptheoilrigs ingofYPFkinshipwasconstitutedbythenumerousfami- andrefineriesrunning.Theirdefinitionofbusinesspartner- liesinwhichalmosteveryoneworkedforYPFandinwhich shipasbrotherhoodwasfacilitatedbythefactthattheem- domesticandindustrialrelationsintersectedsothatone’s prendimientoswerecomposedofYPFworkerswithinanar- brotherwasalsoone’sworkmateandone’sunclewasalso rowrangeofrankings,fromlaborerstoskilledworkers,but one’sboss. notupper-levelmanagersorengineers.Ingeneratingbusi- A second meaning of YPF kinship lay in its use as a ness partnerships as kinship bonds, the emprendimiento metaphorforthecompanyitself.YPFianosdiscussedtheir owners emphasized the mutual care within YPF families relationships to fellow workers through discourses of kin- whilede-emphasizingorexplicitlyrejectingtheunequaldi- ship and depicted the national oil company as a loving visionoflaborandhierarchicalrelationsthatwerealsocru- andcaring—ifstern—fatheror,sometimes,motherwitha cialaspectsofYPFEstatal. “head,”“heart,”“bosom,”andothercorporalparts.Speak- YPFianos described their emprendimientos as prod- ing on behalf of his workmates from an YPF refinery, an ucts of kin solidarity in a manner that paralleled the way YPFiano stated, “We gave our youth to YPF, but YPF took they spoke of the state oil company. For instance, when careofus.”Ofhisownexperience,herecounted,“Ientered I asked Herna´n de la Cruz why POLIP survived when so workonemorningandthatafternoonmyfirstsonwasborn many other emprendimientos succumbed to bankruptcy, ...andwhenIleft,Ihadgrandchildren.”Fusinghisindus- he turned off his cell phone so we would not be inter- trial and domestic relations as the giving and receiving of rupted and narrated the story of how “a strong human care,herhetoricallyasked,“Howcouldonenotlove[querer] groupformedinthecompany.”Herecountedhowthepart- thecompanythatoffered[brindaba]youeverything?”One ners “put all the force that they had” and “suffered in the ofhisworkmatessimplystated,“Everyonefeltthecompany flesh some months” to make sure the company survived. wasafamily.” Insteadofpayingtheirownsalaries,theypaidtheirdebts AlthoughthecriticsofYPFEstataldecrieda“cultureof tosuppliers,insurancepremiums,andtaxes.Heconcluded, dependency”andunhealthypaternalismoftheprebendal “Ittaxedusagreatdeal;therefore,itseemstome,ourcom- state,YPFianosdiscussedlaborrelationsasreciprocal,ifhi- binedeffort[esfuerzoenconjunto]islikeafamily.Ifevery- erarchical, practices of giving and receiving care in which onecontributesandeveryonehelps,Ibelievethatyoucan thecompanyandthehouseholdformedparalleldomains. move things forward.” When Herna´n asserted that POLIP ThisdoublesenseofYPFkinshipasreferringtobothanem- endured the hardships because it was organized around ploymentandadomesticunitwasacrucialresourcethat familybonds,heimpliedthathisandhispartners’unpaid YPFianos deployed during the privatization process. They labor was equivalent to parents’ work to ensure the sur- drew on kinship sentiments and familial relationships as vival of a newborn child. He asserted that sustaining in- they worked to remake themselves into business owners dustrialrelationswithintheprivatizedoilindustryrequired in the absence of important other resources like subsur- as much shared sacrifice and mutual assistance as it had facerights,sharesintheprivatizedcorporation,oraccessto in YPF Estatal. “Moving the emprendimiento forward” in- capital. volvedcombiningthisaffectivelaborwiththekindofcal- culativework,likemanagingpayrollandtaxes,thathepre- viouslydescribed. “Soup all around!” TheLucanofamilyprovidesavividillustrationofhow The YPFianos in emprendimientos reconfigured their af- YPFianos reconciled familial and commercial obligations fectiveattachmentstoYPFandtoeachothertodealwith in developing emprendimientos. Alberto Lucano came to the oil industry’s transformation and to generate associa- northern Patagonia as a teenager to take a job with YPF, tions largely removed from the purview of the state. They as his brother had a few years before him. There, he met aimedtore-formYPFlaborrelationsfrombondsbetween Teresa, who was the daughter in an YPFianofamily and a a domineering father and his obedient, although some- secretary at the YPF offices in Plaza Huincul. They soon 708 Neoliberalassociations (cid:2) AmericanEthnologist married.AlbertocontinuedtoworkforYPF,butTeresaleft father’sactionasacalculatedstrategytoleadhisemploy- when she was pregnant with their first child. Their three eestobemorededicatedtotheirjobs.Alberto,forhispart, children were born in the YPF hospital in Plaza Huincul, didnotseehimselfasbuyinghisemployees’commitment; raisedinaworkers’cooperativehousingcomplexinCutral myconversationswithhimmadeevidentthathewascon- Co´,andeducatedwithYPFfunding.LikemostYPFemploy- tinuingYPF’straditionofnourishingthosewhogavetheir ees, Alberto expected to work for the state company until labor. Providing soup was a compromise that allowed Al- he was ready to retire. When he was dismissed at age 50, bertotoreconcilethepaternalobligationhefelttocarefor AlbertowasamongtheenormousnumberofYPFianoswho hisemployeeswiththefinancialdemandsoftheprivatized were “too old to find a new job but too young to retire.” oilindustry. Thus, he joined a small group of skilled workers in YPF’s When I asked Alberto how his feelings about his em- explorationdivisiontoformNapalco,anemprendimiento prendimiento compared with what he had previously de- offeringoilwellmaintenanceservices. scribedtomeashislovingattachmenttoYPF,heanswered OnlyafewyearsafterNapalcowasfounded,Alberto’s that property ownership made his affection for Napalco daughter,CarolinaLucano,returnedfromuniversitytofind strongerthanhisloveforYPFhadbeen.Thisintensification herfather’semprendimientoonthebrinkofbankruptcy.As occurred,heexplained,becausethecompany“ismoreour a professional who credited her college education to her own,” and then he repeated more emphatically “because father’s work at YPF, Carolina repaid her debt by assisting it is ours.” Alberto credited YPF with having provided for Napalco in facing its financial disaster. She managed the him in almost every aspect of his life, including the (un- administrative aspects, while her father and his partners requested) opportunity to form his own business. Yet he conductedtheworkatthewells.Astheylaboredtosalvage statedthathiscareforcompanypropertyincreasedwhen Napalco, they translated the affective bonds that had ex- hewasdismissedfromYPF,becausetheoilcompanywas istedinYPFtofitthemeagerpossibilitiesavailabletosub- transformedfromstatetoprivateownership.Likeahouse contractorsintheprivatizedoilindustry.Carolinatoldme youownratherthanrent,Albertoanalogized,“youcando abouttheemprendimiento’sMayDaybarbeque(asado)as anything with what is yours, you do it and you are doing anexampleofhowherfatherandhispartners“lovedeach it for yourself.” He, like many of his contemporaries, sug- other like a family and acted accordingly.” The event was gestedthatprivatepropertyownershipwasnotonlyamore asmall-scaleadaptationoftheMayDaycelebrationsthat effective but also a more affective form of property rela- YPFEstatalandtheunionSUPEhadsponsoredeachyear. tionsthanthenationalownershipthathadpreviouslyex- In the photos Carolina showed me, the Napalco partners, istedintheArgentinepetroleumindustry.Theprivatization their wives, and children paused their celebration to put processhad,quiteunexpectedly,strengthenedhisaffective theirarmsaroundeachotherforthecamerainadisplayof attachments. affectionthatrecalledtheearliercelebrations. TheaffectivekindofpropertyownershipthatNapalco OnceNapalcobegantoincreaseitsbusinesscontracts embodiedemergedmostclearlyasitsownersattemptedto andhireafewtechnicians,theownersdrewontheirexpe- extend care not only to their growing group of employees rience in YPF Estatal to strengthen their microenterprise, buttotheirequipmentaswell.WhenAlberto’sdivisionof especiallytoincorporatethenewemployeeswhowerenot YPFEstatalwasdissolved,hisunit’struckswereconverted owners.Duringoneofourlongconversationsoverteaather from state to private property and sold to POLIP as part house,Carolinatoldmeastorythatdemonstratedhowher ofitsfirstcontractwithYPFSA.Carolinatoldmehowthe father took a role “as the bonding [aglutinante] element” Napalcopartnerscarefullymaintainedthesepossessionsas inestablishingkinrelationswithinNapalco:AteamofNa- anexampleoftheir“greatlovefortheircompany.”“Ifyou palcoworkerswasstayinginahotelwhiletheyworkedin getintooneoftheirtrucks,eventhoughitistenyearsold theCatrielextractionsite,andwhenitwastimefordinner ... everything is impeccable because they take care with theywouldsitdowntogetherinthehotel’smodestcafete- anenormousconsciousnessthatitistheirs.”WhenAlberto ria.There,Carolinatoldme,Alberto“wouldaskforthefood stoppedbythehouseafewhourslater,Carolinaaskedher andwouldsay,‘Soupforeveryone!’Likethefatherofafam- father to explain to me himself why he and his partners ily,that’showhewasseatedand[ordered]‘soupforevery- lovedNapalcowithsuchintensity.Albertoimmediatelyan- one, of course!’” As both worker and owner, Alberto tried swered,“Ihavealwayssaidthatourcompanywasanadop- toprovidesomeofthesamebenefitsforNapalco’semploy- tiveson.”Withouthavingheardmypreviousconversation ees that the national oil company had given to him in a with Carolina, he too used the truck to explicate this un- comparablesituation.Hecouldnotaffordtoofferthemas derstandingofhisbusinessasaweboflovingkinship.He abundantabuffetasYPFhadprovidedhimwhen hewas explained,“Becauseyouloveyoursonlikeadad,youlove ajuniorassistant,buthesawsoupwithdinnerasafitting him a lot. Also when you have an adoptive son that you substitute.Carolinaassertedthat“thethingoverthere[in raised from very small, you hold him with affection. For Catriel]iswhatgeneratesbelonging,”thusinterpretingher us,ittaxesusverygreatlytodetachourselvesfromthings. 709 AmericanEthnologist (cid:2) Volume35 Number4 November2008 Yesterday—wesoldatruck...”Ashesaidtheselastwords, patriarchic relationships between contractor and manag- thevoiceofthissexagenarian,burlyoilworkerbroke,and ing firm. At corporate headquarters in Neuque´n City, the hebegantocryaboutthelossofthisarmofhis“adoptive representatives of YPF-Repsol emphasized their efforts to son,”whichhadaccompaniedhimthroughallthetrialsof help emprendimiento owners overcome their lack of “en- birthingNapalcoandmakingthetransitionfromstateem- trepreneurialmentality,”butbackinarundownofficewith ployeetosmallbusinessowneratanadvancedage. abrokenwindowinPlazaHuincul,Iheardadifferentver- After Alberto recovered his composure, he told me sion of this history. As I sat in front of the electric heater howheandhispartnershaddiscussedbuildingapedestal with him, Andre´s Esposito, who never had been an YPF- mound and mounting the truck outside POLIP’s main ianobutbecamethedirectorofanemprendimientonamed buildingsoitcouldstandasatestamenttohowtheirem- OptaNeu, offered a spectacular description of how, in the prendimientowasborn.InwhatCarolinacalled“theown- processofteachingmanagerialskills,theoilcompanyman- ers’mentalmodel,”thetruckwasnotonlyapieceofprivate agerspresentedthemselvesasfulfillingaparentaloravun- propertywhosebenefitscouldbecalculatedintermsoffi- cularroletowhichtheYPFianoswerelongaccustomed: nancialrisksandpotentialprofitsbutalsoamemberofthe Napalcofamilythatwasowedrespectforits(his?)longevity It is like there is someone who doesn’t know how to and dedicated service. However, after a series of long dis- driveandyousay,“Iwillhelpyou.”Then,yousitnext to him and you say, “Well, you have to—the steering cussionswithCarolina,theNapalcopartnersrealizedthat wheel,thepedals—gofaster,gofaster.”Andwhenthey theyhadto“adapttothetimes,”trytoreplacetheiraffective go 120 [km/hour], you say, “Good, I’ll get off here.” relationshipwiththetruckwiththeproperlydetachedper- Then,theotherfindshimselfwithacarthatgoes120 spectiveofbusinessmen,andsellthisobjectoftheirlove. and believes he knows how to drive, but in reality he UnlikehisactionsatdinnerinCatriel,inthiscase,Alberto’s learnedapartofwhathehadtolearn.Andsoitgoes efforttomakehimselfintothecompanyfatherwasseverely thathecrashesonthefirstcurve. constrainedbyhiscontractualagreementwithYPF-Repsol. Napalco’sservicecontractwiththeoilcompanystipulated Andre´s’ssimileimpliesthatthecompanymanagers’in- themaximumageoftrucksthatcouldbedrivenintooilex- structions for steering their new oilfield service microen- tractionsites,and,regardlessofthepartners’effortstokeep terprises gave the emprendimiento owners a false sense itinexcellentcondition,theirswastooold. of their business aptitude and autonomy, which was de- Events such as a May Day barbeque and quotidian stroyedsoonafteritwasdeveloped.Insteadofteachingself- practices like eating soup and repairing a truck illustrate sufficiency, YPF SA’s tutorials made the emprendimiento howtheemprendimientoownersexpendedagreatdealof owners into “dependents” of the transnational company, labor and capital reinforcing loving relations within their providinglessonsthatAndre´sandhispartnersinOptaNeu servicecompaniesatthesametimethattheywereadopt- cametoviewquitecritically. ing calculative business methods. Carolina suggested that The kind of relationship the corporate executives establishing intimateconnectionsamongNapalco’s work- wanted to establish with the YPFianos became evident ers contributed to the emprendimiento’s success but that to Andre´s and several other emprendimiento directors in maintaininglovingattachmentstomaterialthingsblocked 1998, when YPF SA managers used the rapid drop in the themfrommakingproperbusinessdecisions.Albertosaw priceofcrudeoilonglobalmarketsasajustificationtore- thesameeventsfromtheperspectiveofafatherwhowas ducetheamounttheoilcompanypaidtheemprendimien- trying to keep his family united as they labored to over- tos for their services. By this time, more than a third of comethechallengesoftheirnewsituation.Alberto’sbusi- theemprendimientoshadclosed.Thosethathadsurvived nessacumenemergedthroughhiseffortstofindcompati- the tumultuous first years depended on YPF SA as their bilitiesbetweenhisloveforatruckandhisneedforcash. sole client as well as their principal counselor. Diego Par- He and his fellow emprendimiento owners reconciled the mado,whosestoryopensthisarticle,comanagedtheem- historicallaborrelationsoftheArgentineoilindustrywith prendimiento FESTA with a man named Edgar Mancini. therealitiesofthecorporateownershipofoilbycreatively Completingeachothers’sentenceslikeanoldmarriedcou- combiningcalculativeandnurturingtechniques. ple,DiegoandEdgarrecountedwithmorethanatouchof sarcasmhowanYPFSAaccountantcalledthem“strategic partners,”whentheywerereallypartners“inthelosses... Driving lessons butnotintheprofits.” Whereas the YPFianos in emprendimientos employed To further explicate the dynamic of FESTA’s partner- kinship discourse and practices of familial care to con- shipwithYPFSAatthattime,Diegorelatedthat,whenan struct, sustain, and expand their subcontracting busi- YPF SA accountant came to talk to him about renegotiat- nesses,theseniormanagersattheprivatizedoilcompany ing FESTA’s contract, the man sat down beside him like drew on the same notions of YPF kinship to establish anoldworkbuddy,pattedhimontheback,andusedthe 710

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thority figures who promoted it (Paley 2001:143–181), by engag- ing in movements that . Gupta, Akhil, and Aradhana Sharma. 2006 Globalization
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