Suchergebnisse

This article contributes to the current debate on social movements and popular politics in Latin America by exploring the trajectory of organizations within the unemployed workers movement in Argentina, also known as thepiqueteros. Analysts agree that the recent history of this movement is characterized by a pronounced decline due to closing political opportunities. I suggest that a shift in the level of analysis toward organizational dynamics indicates a more complex scenario. While the influence of the movement as a political actor has declined, some piquetero organizations have in some aspects strengthened. I argue that this strengthening took place not despite the post-2003 context, but rather because of it. I advocate for an alternative conceptualization of piquetero groups, emphasizing their immersion in a particular political context and culture rather than their separation from it. I use interviews, participant observation, databases of contentious events, and a diverse literature to sustain my claims.

Despite substantial progress in social movement research, our understanding of activism is much more elaborate with regards to the role of ideas and beliefs than concerning the influence of routines. In this article, I draw on both broad sociological literature and ethnographic research on the unemployed worker's movement in Argentina to address this issue. I argue that an essential attraction of participating in this movement is the opportunity to engage in the daily practices associated with a respectable proletarian ethos. Through the reconstruction of past routines and the development of new habits, some participants come to see their involvement in the movement as an end in itself despite significant personal obstacles and even occasional disagreements with their organization's ideology. These findings suggest that research on the relation between practices and activism can significantly complement the current literature and deepen our knowledge of social movement participation.