Argentina's Labour Wars. The dynamics of violence in labour conflicts in Villa Constitucion 1973 1975

SANTELLA AGUSTIN

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL HISTORY

Cambridge University Press

Lugar: Cambridge UK; Año: 2009

0020-8590

Political violence has run through Argentine history, mostly in the shape of state repression with occasional retaliations from subordinate popular sectors.  Armed confrontations multiplied during the protest cycle between the social revolts of 1969 and the coup d’état of 1976. This paper will try to register how political violence experienced a significant labor conflict in the period 1973-1976 in Argentina. Based on documents and interviews, I offer original empirical evidence to show how entrepreneurial, union, and political actors participated in the industrial conflicts in the city of Villa Constitución in the 1970s. Unlike those who have studied labor conflicts and political violence as independent phenomena, this case shows how linked they actually are.