The social network of minority: poor childhoods and street labor in the city of Buenos Aires in the last years of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century

This article aims to examine the interpretation and conceptions about minorities. First, it looks at the experiences of autonomous labor of children and young people of both sexes in the streets and public spaces of the city of Buenos Aires. Secondly, it contrasts such experiences with the readings and interventions of State agents related to institutions of guardianship and patronage. The main intention of the article is to establish connections between the multiple ways of working and earning a living of the sons and daughters of the poor and the patterns of dealing with minority situations by juvenile defenders and within institutional minority networks.