(De-) mobilising the marginalised: A comparison of the Argentine Piqueteros and Ecuador's indigenous movement

Journal of Latin American Studies

Volumn 39, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 1-29

  Wolff, Jonas ^a  

^a Frankfurt am Main Research Center Transformations of Political Violence   (Germany)

Author keywords

Argentina; Clientelism; Democracy; Ecuador; Indigenous movements; Piqueteros; Political crises; Social movements; Social protest; Unemployed movements

Indexed keywords

CLIENTELISM; DEMOCRACY; INDIGENOUS POPULATION; POPULAR PROTEST; SOCIAL MOVEMENT; UNEMPLOYMENT;

ARGENTINA; ECUADOR; SOUTH AMERICA;

EID: 33847055831     PISSN: 0022216X     EISSN: 1469767X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X0600201X     Document Type: Article

References (107)

1. Moisés Naím, 'From Normalcy to Lunacy', Foreign Policy, no. 141 (2004), p. 104.
2. On Latin America's indigenous movements see Donna Lee Van Cott, From Movements to Parties in Latin America. The Evolution of Ethnic Politics (Cambridge, 2005);
3. Deborah J. Yashar, Contesting Citizenship in Latin America. The Rise of Indigenous Movements and the Postliberal Challenge (Cambridge, 2005);
4. and Nancy Grey Postero and Leon Zamosc (eds.), The Struggle for Indigenous Rights in Latin America (Brighton, 2004).
5. On Ecuador see Augusto Barrera, Acción Colectiva y Crisis Política. El Movimiento, Indígena Ecuatoriano en la Década de los Noventa (Quito, 2001);
6. Melina Selverston-Scher, Ethnopolitics in Ecuador. Indigenous Rights and the Strengthening of Democracy (Coral Gables, 2001);
7. and Jonas Wolff, Demokratisierung als Risiko der Demokratie? Die Krise der Politik in Bolivien und Ecuador und die Rolle der indigenen Bewegungen (Frankfurt, 2004).
8. On the Argentine piqueteros see Maristella Svampa and Sebastián Pereyra, Entre la ruta y el barrio. La experiencia de las organizaciones piqueteras (Buenos Aires, 2004);
9. Gabriela Delamata, 'The Organizations of Unemployed Workers in Greater Buenos Aires', Working Paper of the Center for Latin American Studies (Berkeley, 2004);
10. and Edward Epstein, 'The Piquetero Movement in Greater Buenos Aires: Political Protests by the Unemployed Poor During the Crisis', in Edward Epstein and David Pion-Berlin (eds.), Broken Promises? The Argentine Crisis and Argentine Democracy (Lanham, 2006), pp. 95-115.
11. Bolivia could possibly be such a case as one anonymous reviewer suggested.
12. Based on these semi-structured interviews, a qualitative content analysis was conducted that resulted in the construction of cognitive maps for the different organisations. Due to the restricted space available, however, this article can present only the general results of this in-depth analysis.
13. Donna Lee Van Cott, 'Broadening Democracy: Latin America's Indigenous Peoples' Movements', Current History, vol. 103, no. 670 (2004), p. 80.
14. On the following, see the sources in note 2.
15. Ibid., p. 83.
16. In January 2000, the high command of the armed forces offered only tactical support to the rebellious military/indigenous alliance and, under US pressure, quickly dissolved the 'triumvirate' to install the former Vice-President as Mahuad's successor. As regards Gutiérrez' presidency, the new president quickly changed alliances and policies in favour of an openly pro-market, pro-establishment and pro-US stance, and, in this way, lost the support of almost all his former indigenous and non-indigenous allies. On the former see Catherine E. Walsh, 'The Ecuadorian Political Irruption. Uprisings, Coups, Rebellions, and Democracy', Nepantla, vol. 2, no. 1 (2001), pp. 173-204;
17. On the latter see Augusto Barrera et al., Entre la utopía y el desencanto. Pachakutik en el gobierno de Gutiérrez (Quito, 2004).
18. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 103.
19. See Javier Auyero, 'The Moral Politics of Argentine Crowds', Mobilization, vol. 9, no. 3 (2004), pp. 311-26;
20. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 103-51
21. Nueva Mayoría, 'El 2005 está mostrando el mayor nivel mensual de cortes de rutas y vías públicas desde 2003', 17 August 2005, http://www.nuevamayoria.com.
22. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 55.
23. The importance of these planes for the emergence and development of the piquetero movement is emphasised in virtually all analyses of the phenomenon and has been confirmed in interviews with representatives from a variety of piquetero organisations. See Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 88-102;
24. Delamata, 'The Organizations ', pp. 9-11.
25. Roland Roth, 'Die Rückkehr des Sozialen. Neue soziale Bewegungen, poor people's movements und der Kampf um soziale Bürgerrechte', Forschungsjournal Neue Soziale Bewegungen, vol. 10, no. 2 (1997), pp. 38-50.
26. It is difficult to categorise the Argentine piquetero movement. As an approximation it is possible to differentiate between the 'softer', reformist organisations that are more oriented towards negotiation, co-operation and dialogue with the state, and the more 'radical' groups that take a much more confrontational stance towards die state and emphasise the necessity of revolutionary change. The most important example of the first current is the Federación Tierra y Vivienda (FTV), one of the biggest nation-wide piquetero organisations which forms part of the dissident labour confederation Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA); it is characterised by a trade-unionist and left-Peronist orientation, and since the election of President Kirchner in May 2003 openly supports the government. The latter group - which in December 2001 formed the National Piquetero Block - combines organisations led by small parties of the traditional radical left like the Polo Obrero and various 'autonomous' movements of unemployed workers (smaller groups that can be found mainly in Great Buenos Aires). Another important organisation is the Corriente Clasista y Combativa (CCC) - a Maoist trade union with a separate and very strong piquetero wing that combines radical rhetoric with a rather pragmatic approach. For an overview see Svampa and Percyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 239-42.
27. See Jonas Wolff, 'Ambivalent consequences of social exclusion for real-existing democracy in Latin America: The example of the Argentine crisis', Journal of International Relations and Development, vol. 8, no. 1 (2005), pp. 58-87.
28. See Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Plan Jefes y Jefas. D¿erecbo social o beneficio sin derechos? (Buenos Aires, 2003).
29. In contrast, for example, the movement of neighbourhood assemblies that literally exploded with the events of December 2001 quickly lost momentum.
30. See for example Robert Andolina, 'The Sovereign and its Shadow: Constituent Assembly and Indigenous Movement in Ecuador', Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 35, no. 4 (2003), pp. 721-50.
31. See for example Doug McAdam, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly, Dynamics of Contention (Cambridge, 2001);
32. Sidney Tarrow, Power in movement: Social movements and Contentious Politics (New York, 1999);
33. Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow, 'Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment', Annual Reriew of Sociology, vol. 26 (2000), pp. 611-39.
34. Benford and Snow 2000, 'Framing Processes'.
35. See McAdam et al., Dynamics of Contention, and Tarrow, Power in Movement.
36. and Tarrow, Power in Movement.
37. See Yashar, Contesting Citizenship, pp. 85-151.
38. Benford and Snow, 'Framing Processes', pp. 619-22.
39. Otherwise, neither die electoral successes of Pachakutik in mestizo Ecuador nor the fact that some 10,000 indígenas supported by lower-rank military personnel could peacefully invade Congress and Supreme Court in January 200 can be explained. See José Antonio Lucero, 'Crisis and Contention in Ecuador', Journal of Democracy, vol. 12, no-2 (2001), pp. 59-73.
40. Guillermo O'Donnell, Counterpoints: Selected Essays on Authoritarianism and Democratization (Notre Dame, IN, 1999), p. 207.
41. On the general consequences of Latin America's double transformation for popular sector organisations see Philip Oxhorn and Pamela Starr, eds., Markets and Democracy in Latin America. Conflict or Convergence? (Boulder, 1999);
42. Marcus Kurtz, 'The Dilemmas of Democracy in the Open Economy. Lessons from Latin America', World Politics, vol. 56, no. 1 (2004), pp. 262-302;
43. and Wolff, 'Ambivalent Consequences'.
44. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 155.
45. Ana Dinerstein, 'Que se Vayan Todos! Popular Insurrection and the Asambleas Barriales in Argentina', Bulletin of Latin Amaican Research, vol. 22, no. 2 (2003), pp. 187-200;
46. Colectivo Situaciones, 19 y 20: Apuntes para el nuevo protagonismo social (Buenos Aires, 2002).
47. Van Cott, 'Broadening Democracy', p. 80.
48. The internal common denominator of the Piquetero movement is represented by the (at the same time particularising) demand for social subsidies as well as by the rejection of repressive measures against the movement; their external resonance is based mainly on their general criticism of die politico-economic Argentine model of the 1990s.
49. See Van Cott, From Movements to Parties, pp. 106-13. This is made clear by the president of CONAIE's Amazonian branch CONFENIAE, Luis Vargas, when he emphasises - with a view to the confederation's internal divisions - that 'CONAIE has to recapture its political project. [...] Without any political bias, [we have to] defend die pluri-culturalism, the plurinationality, the territorial rights, the ancestral rights of the indigenous peoples' (Personal communication).
50. Víctor Bretón, Cooperación al desarrollo y demandas étnicas en los Andes ecuatorianose (Quito, 2001).
51. Walsh, 'The Ecuadorian Political Irruption', p. 194.
52. See Bretón, Cooperación el desarrollo, p. 31. The communities' needs and claims continue to centre on territorial questions and local development projects (personal communications with representatives of a broad range of indigenous organisations).
53. Yashar, Contesting Citizenship, pp. 87-130.
54. Denis Merklen,'Sobre la base territorial de la movilización popular y sobre sus huellas en la acción', Lavboratorio, vol. 6, no. 16 (2004), p. 46.
55. Ibid., p. 49.
56. See Isabel Rauber, Piquetes y piqueteros en la Argentina de la crisis. Cerrar el paso abriendo caminos (Quito, 2002), http://www.rebelion.org/ docs/4859.pdf, pp. 5-6
57. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 55-72. 'Before we became the piquetero movement, it was a territorial, a neighbourhood movement, that is, social organisatins of different kinds, cultural organisation, soup kitchens, nurseries [...].' (Lito Borello, President of the FTV Buenos Aires City; personal communication).
58. Auyero, 'The Moral Politics'.
59. See Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 190-5.
60. Merklen, 'Sobre la base', p. 48.
61. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 44-9.
62. See Delamata, 'The Organizations', pp. 14-7.
63. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 201.
64. Delamata, 'The Organizations', p. 12.
65. See Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 58-63.
66. Ibid., p. 183.
67. Personal communication with Juan Carlos Alderete, the national co-ordinator of the CCC piqueteros.
68. Tanya Korovkin, Comunidades Indígenas, Economía de Mercado y Democracia en los Andes Ecuatorianos (Quito, 2002), p. 147.
69. Lourdes Tibán, 'La Democracia como un referente en el Pensamiento Político Indígena', in INDESIC (ed.), La Minga de la Democracia (Quito, 2002), pp. 38-40.
70. Korovkin, Comunidades Indígenas, p. 129.
71. Walsh, 'The Ecuadorian Political Irruption', p. 175.
72. Volkmar Blum, 'Indigene Organisationen als politische Akteure in Ekuador', Lateinamerika. Analysen-Daten-Dokumentation, vol. 17, no. 45 (2000), pp. 52-3.
73. See Bretón, Cooperación al desarrollo, p. 247;
74. Epstein, 'The Piquetero Movement', pp. 104-7.
75. McAdam et al., Dynamics of Contention.
76. J. Craig Jenkins, The Politics of Insurgency. The Farm Worker Movement in the 1960s (New York, 1985).
77. Lucero, 'Crisis and Contention', pp. 68-70.
78. Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens, Capitalist Development and Democracy (Cambridge, 1992), p. 5.
79. See Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, pp. 208-215;
80. Walsh, 'The Ecuadorian Political Irruption', pp. 198-9;
81. Lucero, 'Crisis and Contention', pp. 70-1.
82. See Wolff, 'Ambivalent Consequences'.
83. See Centro Andino de Acción Popular, 'Conflictividad socio política', Ecuador Debate, several issues, http://www.dlh.lahora.com.ec/paginas/debate.
84. Even as Gutiérrez, once elected, quickly broke with his supporters among the indigenous and non-indigenous social movements, CONAIE was not able to mount any serious challenge to his government. In the end, it was a short-term protest movement led by urban middle-classes and the 'traditional' political parties that toppled Gutiérrez in April 2005. See Scott H. Beck and Kenneth J. Mijeski, 'How to Lose by Winning: The Ecuadorian Indigenous Movement After the 2002 Elections', Paper presented at the XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, 15-18 March 2006, San Juan, PR, pp. 22-4.
85. As interviews confirmed, state representatives in Argentina and Ecuador are clearly aware that policies hurting vital interests of the unemployed/indigenous could well provoke the (re-)union of the respective movements and the (re-)mobilisation of their constituencies.
86. See Yashar, Contesting Citizenship, p. 151.
87. See Van, Cott, From Movements to Parties, pp. 99-139.
88. See Steven Levitsky and María Victoria Murillo, 'Argentina Weathers the Storm', Journal of Democracy, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 152-66.
89. Within the scope of this article, I can only point to the fact that the extent of political influence and success as perceived by the respective (indigenous/unemployed) organisations is rather limited while socio-economic indicators (poverty, un- and underemployment) suggest only a gradual recovery after deep economic crisis. In Argentina, socio-economic recovery is all the same quite impressive as compared to the situation of open crisis, but poverty, social inequality, informal employment (conditions) and unemployment remain severe problems.
90. Merklen, 'Sobre la base', p. 50.
91. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 212.
92. Ibid.
93. See Steven Levitsky, Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America. Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge, 2003);
94. Javier Auyero, Poor People's Politics. Peronist Survival Networks & the Legacy of Evita (Durham, 2000).
95. Svampa and Pereyra, Entre la ruta, p. 224.
96. At the same time, the projects financed by CODENPE reinforced the indigenous organisation' orientation towards local development while indigenous participation in this para-state agency promoted clientelist relations with die state and within the indigenous organisations themselves - both, arguably, at the expense of the indigenous movement's macro-political ambitions. See Bretón, Cooperación al desarrollo, pp. 233-35.
97. See Beck and Mijeski, 'How to Lose by Winning'.
98. Ibid.
99. Roberto Santana, 'Cuando las elites dirigentes giran en redondo: El caso de los liderazgos indígenas en Ecuador', Ecuador Debate, no. 61 (2004).
100. Beck and Mijeski, 'How to Lose by Winning', p. 17.
101. Luis Macas, 'Unifying die Indigenous Movement in Ecuador', Interview (25 July 2005) published in http://www.oxfamamerica.org.
102. Tarrow, Power in movement, p. 161.
103. Jenkins, The Politics of Insurgery, p. xi.
104. See the sources in notes 26.
105. See the sources. Marcus Kurtz, 'The Dilemmas of Democracy in the Open Economy. Lessons from Latin America', World Politics, vol. 56, no. 1 (2204), pp. 262-302.
106. Karen L. Remmer, 'Democracy and Economic Crisis: The Latin American Experience', World Politics, VOI. 42, no. 3 (1990), p. 335.
107. UNDP, La Democracia an América Latina. Hacia una democracia de ciudadanas y ciudadanos (New York, 2004), p. 39.