Building the recent history of the railway of La Araucanía (Chile) from its workers point of view

Abstract

The present article aims to analyze the perception of the railway workers from La Araucani?a, Chile, regarding the role played by the railway in sociocultural and economic dynamics of the Region. The fieldwork was carried out in the Region’s historical cities, such as Victoria, Lautaro, Temuco and Renaico, which were developed -in terms of territory- very closely-related to the incorporation of the railway during the second half of the XIX century. The research used a qualitative methodology, in which twenty-three railway workers and former workers were interviewed. Among the findings, it is worth mentioning: the importance of the railway in the daily lives of the Region’s inhabitants, the role of the railway in the social participation of citizens, the significance of the railway patrimony from the encounter between the material and the subjective, and the transformations in the social interaction ways of the railway workers.