Estado, cooperativismo y electricidad en la provincia de Córdoba, 1930-1980

The purpose of this essay is to highlight the electrification process in the rural areas of the Province of Cordoba from the standpoint of cooperative action, so far an issue poorly addressed by the Argentine social and economic historiography. We will analyze three different points. The first one is related to the characteristics of the electric market of Cordoba and the advances of State intervention in such a vital sector of the provincial economy. In the second place, we will address the appearance and evolution of the electric cooperative movement, which begins in the 1930s as possible alternative to the traditional capitalist exploitation of the electric industry, but which actual development starts to consolidate two decades later. Finally, the process of electrification of rural areas, regarding which I seek to outline its main features and the major milestones in its development, as well as its development pace, the areas actually covered and the governmental policy which assigned cooperativism the role of rural electrification agent, promoting the creation of cooperatives through the law, as the creation of the necesary electric infrastructure and specific incentives such as financial support and technical, administrative and legal counselling.