Psychoanalysis in Argentina under Peronism and Anti-Peronism (1943?1963)

DAGFAL, ALEJANDRO

Psychoanalysis and Politics: Histories of Psychoanalysis under Conditions of Restricted Political Freedom

Oxford University Press

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2012; p. 135 - 163

This chapter will focus on the two decades from 1943 to 1963, a period which can be divided in two sub-periods. The first decade (1943-1955) was characterized by the rise and fall of the 'first Peronism', while the local analytic association developed progressively, mainly in the shadows. The second decade (1955-1963) corresponds to the emergence of anti-Peronism under dictatorial and weak democratic governments, in a political context dominated by the proscription of Peron and his movement. At the same time, in this sub-period there was a rapid socio-cultural renewal that facilitated the diffusion of psychoanalysis. This essay will explore the development of psychoanalysis in Argentina during the period I have outlined. In so doing it will question the perspectives that mechanically tend to relate the success or the failure of the implantation of psychoanalysis to the existence of 'democratic' or 'authoritarian' conditions. However, as this chapter will show, the borders between authoritarianism and democracy have been, at least in Argentina during the period under analysis, unclear, and, in same cases, it has been possible for psychoanalysis to find better conditions for its development under military dictatorships than under supposedly freely elected governments.