AN ETNOGRAPHYC APPROACH TO ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS TO THE MANAGEMENT OF FUN IN CORDOBA

Abstract

In this paper we address administrative proceedings in the context of the Department of Public Entertainment (DEP) of the Municipality of Córdoba. We inquire particularly about the individuals in charge of implementing the department's policies (the inspectors) and their training for exercising the administration practices of control and monitoring of "houses for children's parties" and nightlife establishments (pubs, discos, etcetera). The questions guiding the analysis are: How is the necessary knowledge to be "a town council inspector" acquired, and which are its specific situations and ways of transmission? Which professional skills circulate, are mobilised, and are (re) appropriated in those situations? And finally, what kind of subjects are formed in those processes ("inspectors", "specialists", "instructors")? As a source of empirical reflection we are taking into account the practices of the Institute for Municipal Training, specifically those instruction courses for "General Inspector" offered to the town council agents working at the Department of Public Entertainment. The materials used are: etnographyc records from our own participation in those courses, interviews with the "trainers" and the inspectors themselves. The arguments made throughout the text intend to contribute to the understanding of the process of state formation, through an etnographyc approach about administrative proceddings and ways of transmission of management skills for exercising of state power.