Chimneys in the Desert: Industrialization in Argentina during the Export Boom Years, 1870-1930 (review)

Over the past fifty years, hundreds of books and articles have been written about Argentina's failure to develop into a mature, industrial economy comparable to the United States, Japan, or many of the Western European countries. How could a country fall from prosperity to relative poverty during a century of peace (notwithstanding such internal crises as the Dirty War and other political jolts)? How could such splendid natural resources fail to stimulate long-term sustainable growth? These and myriad other questions about Argentina's 20^th century development experience long have intrigued geographers, historians, economists, political scientists, and others. The enigma that is Argentina has provided no small challenge to scholars seeking explanations of its development experience.

The prevailing orthodoxy, argues Fernando Rocchi in this new study of early Argentine industrialization, presents government and elite preferences for the export-oriented agricultural sector as the reason why Argentina did not develop industrially like many First World societies. Rocchi posits instead that industry, in fact, spearheaded Argentina's economic modernization between 1870 and 1930, and contributed to development in ways not considered by previous research. He takes a fresh approach to the issue by delving into the production-consumption relationship, analyzing supply and demand interactions, and exploring the roles of fashion, taste, and commercialization in shaping consumer preferences and production responses.

Through seven chapters, buttressed by an introductory discussion on industrialization in an agrarian-dominated economy and a concluding statement that industry indeed was "one of the leading forces in Argentina's transformation during the Belle Époque" (p. 237), Rocchi lays out his arguments in a nicely organized progression from nascent industrialization in the 1870s to import-substitution policies at the dawn of the Great Depression in 1930. Very few factories existed in Argentina by 1870, with most proto-industrial activity concentrated in and around Buenos Aires and a relatively sparse population of two million limiting domestic consumption.

Chapter one introduces the forces that transformed the industrial landscape of Buenos Aires during the 1870s and 1880s. These included significant immigration that precipitated a rise in demand for industrial goods, the influence of so-called Kondratieff cycles in the economy (boom and bust events) that shaped capital flows in the agro-export sector, and local financial conditions that encouraged import substitution policies. About one-third of the book's supporting tables and figures are presented in this chapter, providing a macro-economic framework for the rest of the study's analysis.

Although these data provide a solid statistical starting point for the following chapters' analysis, their presentation is marred by some sloppy editing. Table 1.2 has column headings misaligned with column data, and several other tables are missing basic descriptive information. More important, though, is the fact that the author fails to develop the relevance and implications of these data in any meaningful way. For example, Table 1.3 illustrates that industrial output grew at a faster rate than GDP per capita between 1875 and 1930, but no explicit link is made between the author's arguments and these macro-economic statistics. Readers are essentially left to their own interpretation of their importance.

Another weakness in this chapter, and indeed throughout the book, is the absence of any supporting visual material such as maps or photographs. Where were the early factories located in Buenos Aires? How did site selection dovetail with new communities of immigrants? What role did local transportation (both its production and consumption) play in linking industrial growth, markets, and consumers? A map or two, supported by some of the splendid archival photographs available of early industrial facilities, warehouses, and materials could have freshened up a somewhat pedestrian chapter.

As rapid growth in the immigrant population created new consumer demands for a diverse range of goods, the local market responded with a variety of initiatives that...