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The Political Makings of the 2001 Lootings in Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2006

JAVIER AUYERO
JAVIER AUYERO
Affiliation:
Sociology Department at the State University of New York-Stony Brook.
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Abstract

Based on archival research and on multi-sited fieldwork, this article offers the first available description of the food lootings that took place in Argentina in December 2001. The paper joins the current relational turn in the study of collective violence. It examines the existing continuities between everyday life, routine politics and extraordinary massive actions, and scrutinises the grey zone where the deeds and networks of looters, political entrepreneurs and law enforcement officials meet and mesh. The article reconstructs the looting dynamics at one specific site and highlights the existence of three mechanisms during the episodes: 1. the creation of opportunities by party brokers and police agents, 2. the validation of looting by state elites, and 3. the signalling spiral carried out by party brokers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , May 2006 , pp. 241 - 265
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Previous drafts of this article were presented at the Eastern Sociological Society 2005 Annual Meeting, the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California, and the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California-Berkeley. I wish to thank participants in these events, and especially discussants Beatriz Sarlo and Charles Tilly for their incisive comments. I also wish to thank Graciela Ramirez for her research assistance and Lauren Joseph for her editing. Funding for this research is provided by a Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellowship.