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

MERCEDES MARÍA BARROS

Cardiff

Conferencia; 63rd PSA Annual International Conference; 2013

Political Studies Association

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