Political Development and Social Change in Contemporary Argentina

Argentina is often presented as the case that exemplifies the "Latin American" tragedy of underdevelopment and dependency. Argentina has rich agricultural resources and a relatively literate population. Nevertheless, she has found it exceedingly difficult to develop the institutions of modern nation-state and to sustain the politics of growth and development. The article identifies the peculiar idelological force of Peronismo, which captured the popular sectors" imagination at the critical juncture of the early postwar years, as a major factor responsible for the "re-peripheralization" of Argentina. Peronismo is an ideology that is full of internal contradiction and tension, and has a difficulty in translating into a workable political force. The gap between rhetorics and reality has been great, and the desire to control and rule always hid behind the facade of democracy it projected. The so-called "Justicialismo" promised the "Third Way" that could transcend capitalism and communism and overcome the shortcomings of the both. In reality, however, it. was more an opportunistic attempt to exploit the sense of alienation prevailing in the Argentine civil society in order to consolidate the dictatorial rule. As a protest against the existent rule of the game, Peronismo was successful in creating the myth that it was a movement that struggled for the liberation of workers. In its attempt to win over loyalties of the labor by generously distributing social welfare benefits, Peronismo also caused a "red scare" on the Right and provoked periodic interventions from the military. The success of the present phase of democratization that was unleashed after the war of Malvinas depends critically on the ability of the Argentine society to de-mystify Peronismo and liberate itself from its idelogical grip