Sociedad civil y redes de poder social en los Territorios Nacionales del Sur: Neuquén, Patagonia argentina, 1880-1907

As far as the military champaign in Chaco and Patagonia was developed during ’80 of XIX century, a redefintion of the nacional territory took place. Those areas had been called “Territorios Nacionales”, ruled by the central administration. In the begining, the little towns an villages where the new local authorities had been settled, had attracted specially to those laymen and peoples who had liberal ideas. That’s the case of Neuquén, where the catholic tradition was very light on the contrary as it was in the old provinces that had integrated organicaly the nacional territory since the independence. There, the masonery had an importan significance, mediating in between of power and civil society. That kind of “logias” had a very important development in Patagonia. They had been influencing in local politics, but also in territory an urban planning, according with domminant liberal ideas followed during those times at regional and national level.