"Commercial Aviation in Argentina: A Call to Re-think the History of Aeromobility in Latin America",

PIGLIA, MELINA

Mobility in History

Berghahn Journals

Año: 2015 vol. 7 p. 109 - 116

2296-0503

MelinaPiglia (CONICET- Cehis, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata)Commercialaviation has played a significant economic, political, and symbolic role in Latin America  not only propelling economic development,but also aiding in the processes of territorial integration andsovereign state construction.Despite the important role thatcommercial aviation played in economic development and integration ofnational territory in countries like Argentina, the topic has notreceived much attention from academic historians. This can beexplained by the fact that the history of mobility in Latin America,in general, is still an undeveloped field. LatinAmerica aviation history still lacks a comprehensive, well-documentedhistory of the civilian aviation industry. Considering aviation?sability to enable mobility across the vast, unevenly settledterritory of the Latin American continent and especially given thelimited nature of ground transportation systems in most countries,continent-wide examinations of the history of commercial aviation, assuggested above, would shed light onto much more than just atransportation mode. New histories could explore how aviation plays arole in larger political and economic debates about national economicdevelopment and state sovereignty. They could also examine theinteraction and tensions between technology, space, mobility,politics, and society during the modernization process. Finally,aviation history could elucidate much about the playing out ofregional integration in peripheral countries.