“A Thousand Ways of Having Fun”. Childhood Experiences at an Hogar Escuela during Peronism: Recreational Activities, Experiences and State Discourse

Abstract

At the beginning of the 1950s, the Hogar Escuela General Juan Perón, built by the Eva Perón Foundation, began to operate in Córdoba city. A particular way of thinking about childhood was configured at this institute for minors that lasted until the coup of 1955. Based on the notion that recreational activities constitute a type of subjectivity, this article investigates the link between the intervention of State during the Peronist government and the educational experiences of childhood that took place at an Hogar Escuela in Córdoba city. Thus, the implications of games and sports for the configuration of childhood are analyzed within the framework of the educational experiences that were developed at this institution. To that end, interviews conducted with two individuals who lived part of their childhood in the Hogar Escuela “General Juan Perón” and other documents are put into dialogue. Among such documents, a photographic collection stands out, which allowed us not only to establish a link with the interviewees, but also to wonder about childhood experiences related to entertainent, with a focus on daily life.