Political discourse theory in the study of resistance movements: an alternative account of the human rights movement in Argentina

MERCEDES MARÍA BARROS

Revista Sul-Americana de Ciência Política

Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Lugar: Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul; Año: 2013 vol. 1 p. 80 - 99

My aim in this paper is to bring some light on the emergence and constitution of the human rights movement and discourse in Argentina and show how a political discourse theory perspective can actually contribute to the full understanding of new forms of social mobilization. To do this, I first look at the ways the human rights movement and discourse have been accounted for by the literature and I point at some of the common problems and difficulties found in most accounts. I argue that for a more satisfactory understanding of the constitution of this movement, special attention should be given to the process of political identification and articulation that was at the base of the movement´s emergence. In this way, I turn to explore the dislocatory effects that prompted the process of popular mobilization, and later to analyze the discursive conditions that made this new sociopolitical identity possible. Finally, I conclude with some remarks on how drawing on a discourse theory approach can help us to understand the formation of the human rights demand and to the study of new forms of social mobilization in general.