The performance of Design in the First Neoliberal Wave in Argentina

DEVALLE, VERÓNICA ESTELA

Zagrev

Congreso; Lessons to learn? Past Design Experiences and Contemporary Design Practices. 12th ICDHS Conference of the International Committe Design History and Design Studies.; 2020

Institute for the Research of the Avant-Garde Zagreb

This paper analyses the performance of different design-related professions in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina during the 1990s and early 2000s. It aims to show that the specific features exhibited by the various design sectors largely reflect the characteristics of the first neoliberal wave in Latin America. In Argentina, this involved the transition from an industrial to a service-oriented economy. In this context, the paper seeks to examine the performance of the branches of design under a (neoliberal) logic that, theoretically speaking, exceeds its characterisation in socioeconomic terms. Adopting a culturalist perspective also enables us to understand dominance and domination as symbolic/cultural events, and to analize the dominant practices and logic existing whitin design during the period under review.