From Repression at Home to Resistance Abroad: How Politicide Shaped Exile and Diaspora Politics in Argentina

• In Event: Soft Power, Hard Borders: The Geopolitics of Diaspora Engagement

Abstract

How does the configuration of political violence in a sending state shape the character of forced migration and diaspora mobilization? Existing migration theories treat violence as an exogenous “push factor.” Repression scholarship, meanwhile, focuses on targets and conditions rather than the perpetrators of violence. This paper bridges these literatures by arguing that the internal architecture of state violence is constitutive of the entire trajectory from forced exit to diaspora political action. Specifically, the degree of selectivity with which violent actions target actors across the political spectrum shapes each stage of this trajectory. I develop this argument through a historical case study of Argentina (1970-1991). There, the widespread repression orchestrated by the military and its civil supporters produced a large and politically heterogeneous exile population. This population reassembled organizational networks abroad to sustain transnational advocacy against the regime. The paper identifies three sequenced mechanisms. First, the emergence of a repressive coalition, a structured alliance of military principals and civilian auxiliaries expanded the scope of violence beyond armed opposition to encompass actors across the political spectrum. Second, the triggering of a politically widespread expulsion, a form of displacement diffused across partisan and ideological lines. Finally, the consolidation of a polyphonic transnational mobilization, a politically heterogeneous exile population that international denunciation and solidarity organizing across Mexico, France, Spain, Venezuela, and Italy. This study draws on 52 in-depth interviews, six months of archival fieldwork, victim registries, declassified diplomatic cables, and migration statistics. It demonstrates that violence is not only a precondition for emigration but also a constitutive force that structures diaspora politics.

Author

• Leydy Diossa-Jimenez, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor