Acción colectiva, violencia y clientelismo durante la crisis de 2001 en Argentina

FERNANDA PAGE POMA

San Martín, Buenos Aires

Jornada; V Jornadas de Investigación en Política y Gobierno, "Estudios sobre la Provincia de Buenos Aires"; 2018

EPyG, UNSAM

In a context of an economic, social, and political crisis that resulted in widespread food riots and uprisings, what explains the absence of collective violence and lootings in a district with a legacy of intense mobilization? I argue that the answer to this question lies in a specific combination of brokerage, clientelism and collective action. Far from dominating their clients and preventing horizontal ties, brokers in the poverty-stricken district of Florencio Varela in Argentina mobilized the population to act together and suppress violence. Drawing on in-depth interviews and secondary sources, I posit that during the peak of the revolts in December of 2001, brokers in this district appeared to validate collective mobilization and organizing seeking to prevent violence and lootings. The primary significance of this work is the differential way in which patron-client ties unfold to promote participation and collective movements.