The new ?new right? in Argentina: media & popular resistance

VILA SEOANE, MAXIMILIANO

Lima, Perú

Congreso; Congreso anual de la Latin American Studies Association (LASA); 2017

Latin American Studies Association (LASA)

This article investigates how new right movements try to shape public opinion in their favor. In particular, it investigatesthe case of Argentina, where in 2015 a new center-right administration, the ?Cambiemos? coalition, won the elections witha slight difference of 2,68%. Notwithstanding, during the first months in government this ?New Right? alliance hasintroduced several policies that contrast starkly with the previous center-left Kirchner ́s administration; for example, theystarted a neoliberal economic program that has increased unemployment, living costs and inflation for many citizens.These policies have unleashed social mobilizations against the government, which oppose such decisions. This articleanalyzes these changes in the country by investigating the discourses and counter-discourses that the government and theopposition have mobilized in a hybrid media system, which is studied in each of its three layers: traditional media, socialmedia and social mobilizations. The results show that the government has been applying several strategies to legitimize itspolicies in the first and second layer. Although there is popular resistance in these, the most serious challenge to theCambiemos coalition comes from social mobilizations in order to counter arrest the shrinkage of the ?critical? mediasphere. But the ruling coalition has not hesitated in employing dubious tactics to demobilize them. The implications fordemocracy are discussed in the conclusion.