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Populist Nationalism and the Struggle over Argentine Identity: From Rosas to the Kirchners

Fri, May 25, 10:45am to 12:15pm, TBA

Abstract

Populist nationalism has been a common fixture of Argentine political life, and has figured
prominently in debates over national identity. In this paper, I examine its emergence and
evolution. While many attribute it to Juan Perón, I argue that its roots go all the way back to
Juan Manuel de Rosas, the caudillo who ruled Buenos Aires Province between 1829 and 1852.
A half century later, we saw crucial developments during the rule of the Radical president
Hipólito Yrigoyen, and again in the mid-1930s with the rise of a small group called the Fuerza de
Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina. Perón subsequently constructed his own version of
populist nationalism, building on ideas from the past and also influencing leaders who followed.
Two of the things that make this case fascinating are the role of populist leaders in the debate
over understandings of the nation, and their ideological fluidity. In the second part of the
paper, I focus on two more recent leaders – Presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández
de Kirchner – and analyze some of the implications of their populist nationalism, particularly for
the state of democracy. The paper argues that populist nationalism is deeply embedded in the
political culture of Argentina. As such, it is unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future,
despite the election of Mauricio Macri in 2015, who formally rejected Kirchner-style populism
and promoted warmer relations with the U.S. and the international community.

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