Argentine society and politics

Carola Blitzman Eisenberg, MD, now retired but actively involved in human rights work through Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and elsewhere, was the Dean of Students of MIT (the first woman to hold that position at MIT), then Dean of Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School (HMS) (1978–1990). She has for a long time been Lecturer in the newly renamed Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at HMS (formerly the Department of Social Medicine). She is also Honorary Psychiatrist with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, a longstanding position there.

Moments of mass mobilization astound us. As a sea of protesters fills the streets, observers scramble to understand this extraordinary political act by 'ordinary' citizens. This study presents a paired comparison of two 'moments' of mass mobilization, in Ukraine and Argentina. The two cases are compared and analyzed on a cross-temporal and an inter- regional basis, thereby offering two critical cases in response to assumptions that the processes and patterns of mobilization, and democratization politics more broadly, are region specific. This study challenges political science's focus on elites and structural factors in the study of political participation during democratization.

The conclusion applies the model of mass-mobilization developed from the two cases to the Arab Spring (Egypt) and EuroZone Sovereign Debt Crisis (Greece) protests. The epilogue assesses the EuroMaidan Revolution in Ukraine in comparative context.

Contents:

PART I

1. Introduction: The Shock and Awe of Moments of Mass Mobilization

2. Theoretical Framework for Comparative Analysis of Mass Mobilization


PART II

3. Mapping Moments and Movements in Ukraine and Eastern Europe 1920-2004

4. Mapping Moments and Movements in Argentina and Latin America 1920-2001

PART III

5. Setting Precedents: Medium-term Structural Factors in the Mobilization Process

6. Context is Only Part of the Puzzle: Short-term Structural Factors in the Mass Mobilization Process

PART IV

7. The Activist and Elite Interaction and Information Exchange Game

8. The Duty to Protest: Participation of 'Ordinary' People in Mass Mobilization

9. Conclusions: Understanding Revolutionary Moments and Movements

Epilogue: It Happened Again: The 2014 EuroMaidan Mass Mobilization in Ukraine

In recent years, especially after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the phenomenon of populism has returned to the forefront. Populism is all around us, on the front pages of the newspapers, in the political repertoire, in academic papers. Politicians, journalists and researchers discuss this phenomenon, try to define it, examine its principal features and analyse its relationship with democracy. A large part of the mainstream parties and politicians have succeeded, through a strong anti-populist rhetoric, in consolidating the idea that populism is a dangerous ideology. Technocrats, mainstream media and many researchers blame the anti-establishment parties and argue that populism is an ‘irrational’ phenomenon that threatens politics and society. But is that really the case? In this article, we examine anti-populism after the economic collapse in Greece (2008/09) and Argentina (2001) to highlight the danger that derives from this kind of discourse. Our main goal is to find the chief characteristics of anti-populist discourse in both countries in order to emphasize its problematic and controversial perspective.

El presente trabajo es un aporte a la integración de la obra de Borges en la corriente de la literatura argentina que reconoce en la ficcionalización del otro un paso significativo para definir la identidad nacional. Para ello, se estudiarán los ensayos “El simulacro” y “La muralla y los libros”, en los cuales Borges resuelve con distintos recursos su visión personal del gobierno de Perón.

Previamente  se aludirá al concepto de ficción propio del autor,  el cual anula la oposición tradicional entre el discurso histórico y el  literario. Asimismo, se transferirá a diferentes alusiones directas e indirectas a Perón, los conceptos ya tradicionales de la visión cíclica del tiempo , la oscilación entre lo particular  y lo genérico y la disolución del individuo.

“El simulacro” será trabajado relacionándolo con el valor actualizador del hecho teatral . Es así que el velatorio fraudulento de  Eva Duarte de Perón, se  constituye en la plataforma fundante del mito de Evita.
“La muralla y los libros”, escrito durante el primer gobierno peronista, ampliará su mensaje ya reconocido por la crítica. Al ser anclado en su contexto de producción y decodificado desde el referente político, este cuento-ensayo devela los mecanismos de defensa de un intelectual argentino que  ficcionalizó lo más lejanamente posible el problema que lo abrumaba.

Presentación  directa el primero, y elusión consciente y sistemática el otro, ambos textos iluminan un aspecto importante de las numerosas claves políticas ocultas en la obra de Borges.

Entrevistamos a Atilio Borón, politólogo y sociólogo argentino. Figura destacada del pensamiento crítico latinoamericano, su trayectoria combina una sólida carrera académica y un permanente compromiso político-intelectual con los procesos populares, que se ha traducido en un merecido reconocimiento internacional. Su obra está disponible en: www.atilioboron.com.ar /// We interview Atilio Borón, Argentine political scientist and sociologist. Outstanding figure of Latin American critical thinking, his career combines a solid academic career and a permanent political-intellectual commitment with popular processes, which has resulted in a deserved international recognition. His work is available in: www.atilioboron.com.ar /// Entrevistamos Atilio Borón, cientista político e sociólogo argentino. Figura proeminente do pensamento crítico latino-americano, sua carreira combina uma sólida carreira acadêmica e um compromisso político-intelectual permanente com processos populares, o que resultou em um merecido reconhecimento internacional. Seu trabalho está disponível em: www.atilioboron.com.ar

This article directly resulted from the teacher/researcher experience, describing new analyses resulting from subtitling a film for curriculum incorporation: Tango feroz, la leyenda de Tanguito (1993). Set in Argentina in the sixties and loosely based on the life of José Alberto Iglesias Correa, also known as Tanguito, this film portrays an early exponent of rock nacional argentino. This article contrasts how the film has become known as a work that promotes women’s liberation, transgression of traditional race and class boundaries, and criticism of authoritarian neoliberal regimes, yet an analysis of the film’s dialogue and aesthetics reveals a double-register pregnant with ambiguity, in particular regarding the role of neoliberalism in Argentina’s national economy.

Ces dernières années, plusieurs collectifs d’activisme artistique ont agi en Argentine, intervenant de manière performative dans l’espace public physique et numérique avec des tactiques diverses. Dans ce travail, nous analysons les actions virtuelles de deux des groupes les plus représentatifs de cette mouvance – La Compañia de Funciones Patrióticas (CFP) et l'association CRIA (Creando Redes Independientes y Artísticas) – respectivement à l'origine de deux événements mis en place pendant le confinement décrété en 2020 : Relato situado. Memoria del aislamiento et LA CRIATURA-20. À partir d’un travail d’ethnographie du web, il s'agit de restituer les problématiques sociales et esthétiques de ces groupes et d’analyser les effets de leurs actions à la fois sur leurs membres et sur leurs publics au regard de la constitution d'une « communauté virtuelle » pendant la pandémie de Covid-19.

Este trabajo comunica los hallazgos de una investigación realizada en la ciudad de Salta, referida a la localización de fuentes musicales en archivos religiosos. La documentación musical a la que se hace referencia pertenece a dos centros: el Convento de San Francisco y a la Catedral Metropolitana. Entre las obras musicales más significativas que posee el Archivo Musical de San Francisco se destacan tres libros manuscritos que corresponden a obras para orquesta, coro y solistas vocales, encuadernadas en forma similar. Un Mottetto Pastorale, para orquesta, coro y solistas de Giovanni Paisiello, manuscrito encuadernado de una obra datada a comienzos del siglo XIX,  una Messa e Credo, fechada en 1834, de Simón Mayr y la Gran Messa di Gloria de Gaetano Donizetti, fechada en 1837 en Bérgamo. También se conservan obras manuscritas, originales de PP. Franciscanos y Lateranenses, para voces con acompañamiento de órgano. Otra documentación significativa es el libro de la Erección y Regla de Coro de la Catedral de Salta en el siglo XIX.

In early 2018, a protest chant against Argentine President Mauricio Macri became so widespread that journalists called it the "hit of the summer." Originating in soccer stadiums, it soon spread in other formats as musicians transformed it into countless parody videos in a process I call a "sonic meme." This involved first transforming mass culture (a march) into vernacular practice (a soccer chant), and then transforming that chant, in turn, back into mass-mediated popular music. The latter process was parodic not in the sense of profaning high culture, but rather transformed the already profane into the higher prestige register of music-as-art or music-as-commodity.

Resumen: En los primeros meses de 2018, un canto de protesta contra el presidente argentino Mauricio Macri se difundió masivamente al nivel que algunos periodistas lo bautizaron "el hit del verano." De su origen en las canchas de fútbol, se difundió en otros formatos cuando músicos lo trasformaron en incontables videos paródicos, basándose en un proceso que yo llamo un "meme sonoro." Esto implicaba primero la trasformación de una expresión de la cultura masiva (una marcha) en una práctica popular (un cantito de hinchada), y luego la trasformación de esa misma en música popular mediatizada. Este último proceso era paródico, no en el sentido de profanar la llamada "alta" cultura, sino en la forma en que convirtió lo desde ya profano en el registro más prestigioso de música-como-arte o música-como-mercancía.

2018 was a rocky year for Argentina. Economic instability put it on the brink of crisis again and eroded the government’s credibility. This study provides an analysis of the main social, political and economic events affecting Argentina’s domestic politics and foreign policy then. It accounts for selected issues, with an emphasis on changes in public policies and implications for the upcoming years. The argumentative thread focuses on the consequences of Argentina’s being haunted by the spectre of one more debacle. Within changes in public policies, the focus is on the end of a gradual approach to structural changes and initiatives related to population and human mobility across borders –a policy area that has required increasing attention and resources lately.

In May 2013, Argentina marked ten years since Néstor Kirchner was elected president. The current FPV government and its supporters have celebrated this period as the ‘década ganada’, characterised by economic recovery and growth, public spending, and accountability for the human rights abuses of the last dictatorship. Critics, on the other hand, point to weakened democratic institutions, increasingly polarised political debate, and unsustainable fiscal and monetary policy.  Moreover, for some, the mid-term elections in October 2013 cast doubt on the future of Kirchnerismo. Therefore, as Argentina begins to consider the crucial 2015 presidential election, the Institute of the Americas at UCL organised a Symposium on 21 November 2013 that provided a very timely survey of the current political and economic landscape in the Argentina, and that assessed possible future directions for country. Three broad areas of analysis, summarised below, formed the basis for the discussions: economic performance; domestic politics; and Argentina’s position in Latin America and the world.