Indictments, Myths, and Citizen Mobilization in Argentina: A Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Most accounts of the turmoil that shook Argentina in focused on the harmful impact of the financial environment, imprudent policymaking, and institutional weaknesses. These explanations paid little attention to the cultural frames and cognitive patterns that underlie the connection between civil society and political society. Based on a discourse analysis of Internet forums and presidential speeches, this article argues that the Argentine crisis cannot be fully grasped without considering the link between collective behavior and ingrained conceptions of national identity. The analysis finds that national myths and definitional questions of national purpose are key factors in the way citizens behave in the context of an economic and political crisis.he recent economic and political crisis in Argentina has raised many T questions regarding its causes, its distinctive characteristics, and its consequences. One of its most interesting aspects is that it exposed a profound gap between the citizenry and the ''ruling class." Not surprisingly, most economists, political scientists, and media pundits have explained Argentina's crisis and the ensuing "social explosion" by referring to adverse macroeconomic factors, ill-advised policymaking, and institutional dysfunction. Less attention has been given to culturally framed explanations that explore how cognitive patterns influence people's behavior.This article argues that the Argentine crisis of 2001-2 cannot be fully understood without considering how citizen mobilization and the "indictment" of the political class are connected to longstanding conceptions of national identity, particularly to national myths. The Argentine case offers a valuable opportunity to explore the ways that citizens react to definitional questions of national purpose-what kind of country citizens believe they can, should, and want to have-in the midst of an economic and political crisis.This exploration employs cultural and discursive analysis and, in doing so, represents a different perspective with respect to traditional explanations based on the weakness of a "civic culture''-still an 27 28 LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY 47: 4

The Ideational Approach to Populism

“…Until now, empirical studies using the ideational definition have focused on contemporary parties and movements, especially in Europe (Jagers and Walgrave 2007;Mudde 2007;Rooduijn and Pauwels 2011) but somewhat in Latin America (Armony and Armony 2005;Hawkins 2009). These studies are valuable because they show the presence of populist discourse across parties and movements in a variety of countries, thus validating the claim that populist ideas are a key unifying feature.…”

“…On the one hand, by assuming that populism is a set of ideas that can be combined with other ideological features, new research has been able to identify different subtypes of populist forces across the world Mudde 2007;Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2013;Stavrakakis and Katsambekis 2014). On the other hand, a number of scholars have applied techniques of textual analysis and survey research to the measurement of populist ideas, not just in one or two countries (Armony and Armony 2005;Jagers and Walgrave 2007) but in regional and cross-regional studies (Akkerman, Mudde, and Zaslove 2014;Hawkins 2009;Rooduijn and Pauwels 2011). These works are beginning to examine the causes and consequences of populism, including its impact on policy and democratic institutions (Hawkins 2010;Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2012;Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2013;Mudde and Rovira Kaltwasser 2017).…”

Introduction Revisiting the Argentine Crisis a Decade on: Changes and Continuities

“…Secondly, the entrepreneurial Zeitgeist that was encouraged by the media and government convinced many Argentines that they were finally able to fulfill the dreams of their immigrant parents and grandparents by becoming middle class. Third, and perhaps equally as crucial was that it created a sense that the country's perceived historic "destiny" of arriving in the First World was finally being fulfilled (Armony and Armony 2005).…”

Co-production and co-consumption: Perspectives on immigration through a discourse analysis of voters’ blogs in the 2010 General Election

“…Equally ignored in our field are the production and consumption of the political issues at stake in any election by voters/citizens (except for Moloney, Richards, Scullion, & Daymon, 2003). We would like to see these omissions addressed because the rich theoretical development that could be gained from such avenues of research is obvious in the disciplines of sociology and politics (see among others Hay, 1996;Armony & Armony, 2005;Dryzek & Niemeyer, 2008;Singer, 2009;Lacy, 2010), but also in mainstream marketing. Downloaded by [University of Auckland Library] at 09:06 05 June 2016…”