The Retrenchment of the Welfare State in Latin America: The Case of Argentina

Abstract

According to the conventional approving account of the transformations which have been taking place in public policy and in markets in Latin America, Argentina constitutes one of the most successful examples of wide-ranging and rapid change. Certainly the experience of Argentina offers an excellent case-study of what in the literature is termed "the retrenchment of the welfare states"; that is those institutional transformations associated with the "neoconservative revolutions" of recent years. In this paper I analyse the characteristics of Argentinian welfare state retrenchment, distinguishing between two fields of analysis: (1) "systemic retrenchment" which is linked to changes in the "referential environment" of social policy institutions, especially changes in the economic, fiscal, labour market and politico-institutional contexts; (2) "programmatic retrenchment" which refers to changes in the institutional ordering of specific social policies. Finally I draw conclusions in respect of the strategies adopted for the retrenchment of the welfare state in Argentina and discuss probable prospects for the future.

Réguler aussi avec l’informel. L’informalisation de l’État au coeur de l’emploi des jeunes

“…Dans le cadre de ce modèle, l'État a approfondi son intervention dans tous les domaines, édifiant un État « -providence », -social ou -centrique (Cavarozzi, 1999). L'État-providence en Argentine est le produit hybride de schémas de sécurité sociale associés aux corporations syndicales et à des institutions sociales-démocrates universelles, comme l'éducation et la santé publiques, d'accès libre et gratuites pour tous les citoyens (Lo Vuolo, 1997). Les fondements institutionnels de ce modèle ont été établis lors du gouvernement de J.D.…”

La ñata contra el vidrio: urban violence and democratic governability in Argentina

“…These two laws provided the legal framework for the subsequent economic measures: privatisation of practically all public enterprises (for instance, telecommunications, gas, electricity, water, transport, iron and steel); implementation of free movement of capital; reduction in import tari!s and removal of most non-tari! barriers; and re-negotiation of the external debt to arrange payments in the context of the Brady Plan (Lo Vuolo, 1997).…”