Routine Politics and Violence in Argentina: The Gray Zone of State Power

Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics

by Javier Auyero

Close to three hundred stores and supermarkets were looted during week-long food riots in Argentina in December 2001. Thirty-four people were reported dead and hundreds were injured. Among the looting crowds, activists from the Peronist party (the main political party in the country) were quite prominent. During the lootings, police officers were conspicuously absent - particularly when small stores were sacked. Through a combination of archival research, statistical analysis, multi-sited fieldwork, and taking heed of the perspective of contentious politics, this book provides an analytic description of the origins, course, meanings, and outcomes of the December 2001 wave of lootings in Argentina.

Genres: History

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Julio César · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auyero en estado puro. El autor analiza los saqueos de Argentina en diciembre de 2001 arrojando luz sobre los mecanismos de interacción entre política partidaria, vida cotidiana y violencia colectiva. Como en todos sus trabajos, cobran más importancia los intersticios que las regularidades, lo que aquí llama "la zona gris" de la política, que no se le presta la debida atención en los estudios contemporáneos. La parte que más me interesó, sin embargo, es en la que revisa las tesis sobre clientelismo de La política de los pobres, ya que aquí introduce preocupaciones sobre la dominación que en ese primer libro parecían estar (peligrosamente) alejadas o ignoradas.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice compact look at the lootings that occurred in Argentina during the 2001 economic crisis. Auyero does an excellent job of untangling the clandestine networks between state officials, party members, police officers, and local residents that helped to stimulate and direct the form in which the lootings took place. Definitely worth checking out if you're interested in Argentine politics and history, collective violence, corruption, and clientelism.

[Donal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointed to find it was written originally in English.