Putting Production at the Centre: Restructuring Process, Labour Automation and Production Norms in an Argentine Factory (1975–2000)

This article examines the role of labour automation in industrial restructuring, focusing on a case study of a multinational Argentine company’s hard candy factory. By critically reviewing existing literature, it illustrates how Argentina’s history of capital accumulation is mirrored in the company’s evolution, from a national entity to an international market player, particularly following the Rodrigazo crisis and during the Convertibilidad period. This transition was consolidated by open-market policies that the company actively supported and benefiting from. Using secondary data and interviews conducted at the factory, the article analyses the construction of a new industrial plant for the production of the company’s main export product, revealing that the significant growth in the 1990s was driven by a restructuring process marked by labour automation and the streamlining of production processes aimed at intensifying labour exploitation and enhancing productivity. The article shows that during the Convertibilidad period, the company revolutionized its labour processes by introducing new technologies that established a new production norm. The analysis contributes to re-establishing links between national restructuring processes and changes on the factory floor, placing production at the forefront of the discussion.