Las trabajadoras ferroviarias y el amor por el ferrocarril como carrera emocional: “Si no lo sentís, no lo entendés”

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the narratives of love for the railway, understood as being an emotional career. To this end, the processes, spaces, and stages involved in the construction of this unique emotional attachment is explored from the perspective of the women railway workers. This love, also described as fanaticism, for the railway is composed of four pieces which are subjected to scrutiny: family bonds, sociability among colleagues in the workplace, participation in the union at a local level, and individual fondness for objects associated with the railways. We show that these women pay a higher price when they dedicate themselves fully to their love for the railways, but that they also experience gratification from these new emotions, which broaden their scope for agency. Taking a biographical perspective, the analysis developed here is based on in-depth interviews and observations made on the metropolitan railway in Buenos Aires.