Piqueteros after the Hype: Unemployed Movements in Argentina, 2008-2015

Abstract

The Argentine unemployed movement of the piqueteros was a key socio-political player in the early 2000s. Although public and academic attention paid to these piqueteros has decreased notably since 2010, they continue to be active. This article provides an empirical update to the existing research on Argentina's unemployed movement by analysing how distinct piquetero organizations have adapted to evolving political and socioeconomic changes during the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2008Kirchner ( -2015. In drawing on social movement research, we suggest a number of mechanisms that can help to explain the continuing existence of the piqueteros. While a persistent focus on grassroots work has been identified as key to their existence, adaptation to the changing political and socioeconomic context has meant that core claims related to the very issue of (un-)employment, including the demand for dignified work, have largely been dropped from the political agenda of various piquetero organizations. Keywords: Argentina, unemployed movement, piqueteros, social movements, social protest, social policies, cooperatives, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.Resumen: Los piqueteros después del auge: Los movimientos de desocupados en Argentina, 2008Argentina, -2015 A comienzos del siglo el movimiento de desocupados de Argentina era un actor sociopolíti-co clave, pero desde 2010 ha decrecido notablemente el interés público y académico en los denominados piqueteros. Los piqueteros, sin embargo, siguen existiendo. Este artículo ofrece una actualización de la investigación existente sobre el movimiento de desocupados en Argentina. Se analiza cómo las distintas organizaciones piqueteras han adaptado a los cambios politicos y socioeconómicos durante la presidencia de Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2008Kirchner ( -2015. Basándonos en la investigación sobre movimientos sociales, sugerimos una serie de mecanismos que contribuyen a entender la persistencia de los piqueteros. Por un lado, un continuo enfoque en el trabajo territorial ha sido clave para tal persistencia. Por otro, la adaptación al nuevo contexto ha llevado a que reivindicaciones importantes relacio-

Institutional Strengthening in a Receding Movement: The Trajectory ofPiqueteroOrganizations between 2003 and 2015

“…The ability of the Kirchners to create a coalition of forces behind a political project that distanced itself from previous administrations deprived the piquetero movement of the equation government=antagonist that had prevailed until then. Consequently, existing conflicts within the movement were intensified by new divisions (Pereyra, Pérez, and Schuster 2008;Kaese and Wolff 2016).…”

“…However, an exploration of dynamics at a lower level of analysis offers a more complex story. Although they failed to maintain their momentum in 2001-2002, piquetero organizations have not vanished (Kaese and Wolff 2016). Over the years some of them have accumulated substantial resources and expertise.…”

“…In addition, alternative networks such as traditional party politics, state offices, and charitable organizations obtained more resources. This scenario severely affected the number of people mobilized through piquetero organizations (Pereyra, Pérez, and Schuster 2008;Kaese and Wolff 2016).…”

“…Finally, I advocate for a new conceptualization of piquetero organizations in order to understand better how the post-2003 context affected them. I complement comprehensive studies on the movement (such as Svampa and Pereyra 2003;Pereyra, Pérez, and Schuster 2008;Kaese and Wolff 2016) with ethnographic analyses of popular politics in Argentina (Auyero 2001;Grimson, Ferraudi Curto, and Segura 2009;Quirós 2011;Manzano 2013), as well as my own fieldwork, to emphasize the connections between piquetero groups and other instances of community life in the country's working-class neighborhoods. While organizations of unemployed workers developed substantial innovations in their political work and agenda, they also drew heavily from other forms of popular politics.…”

The Missionaries of Francis: The Theology of the People and the Unification of the Argentine Piquetero Movement (2014–2018)

“…More recently, researchers have shifted their attention to the persistence of the piquetero movement over time (20 years) and its historical significance at the national and regional levels. Most organizations within the movement have survived well beyond the socioeconomic and political contexts in which they originated, and this persistence has yielded another axis of analysis, the adaptation of and shifts in repertoires and political strategies over time (Epstein, 2009;Kaese and Wolff, 2016). One final and more recent approach sees the piquetero movement as part of a second wave of integration into mainstream society in different Latin American countries.…”