¿Rompiendo con el subdesarrollo? Transformaciones de la estructura productiva, empleo y población en La Rioja, 1976-2001

The socioeconomic impacts of neoliberal economic policies, both globally and in individual countries, such as Argentina, have been widely discussed in the academic literature (cf. Basualdo, 2006; Cantamutto y Wainer, 2013; Gago, 2014; Harvey, 2007; Laval y Dardot, 2013; Piva, 2012; Svampa, 2005). However, its impacts in the province of La Rioja, Argentina, have not been analysed in great detail in the literature (for exceptions, see Hadad y Palmisano, 2017; Olmedo, 2006). To address these limitations, the present work proposes to analyse the socioeconomic impacts of neoliberal structural reforms in the province of La Rioja between 1976 and 2001, emphasising changes in the productive structure, employment and poverty, from a heterodox perspective. Based on an analysis of primary and secondary sources -statistical data from CFI-ECLAC and INDEC, texts on the economic, political and social history of Argentina during the period under investigation, with a particular emphasis on the changes experienced in La Rioja-, the article shows the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic impacts of neoliberal structural reforms in La Rioja compared to the rest of the Argentina. In this way, the work seeks to offer new knowledge about the specificities of socioeconomic development in the province of La Rioja in the period investigated, as well as contribute to the broader literature on the economic history of neoliberalism worldwide.