Identity and Nationalism in Modern Argentina

Jeane Delaney

Description

Nationalism has played a uniquely powerful role in Argentine history, in large part due to the rise and enduring strength of two variants of anti-liberal nationalist thought: one left-wing and identifying with the “people” and the other right-wing and identifying with Argentina’s Catholic heritage. Although embracing very different political programs, the leaders of these two forms of nationalism shared the belief that the country’s nineteenth-century liberal elites had betrayed the country by seeking to impose an alien ideology at odds with the supposedly true nature of the Argentine people. The result, in their view, was an ongoing conflict between the “false Argentina” of the liberals and the “authentic”nation of true Argentines. Yet, despite their commonalities, scholarship has yet to pay significant attention to the interconnections between these two variants of Argentine nationalism. Jeane DeLaney rectifies this oversight with Identity and Nationalism in Modern Argentina. In this book, DeLaney explores the origins and development of Argentina’s two forms of nationalism by linking nationalist thought to ongoing debates over Argentine identity. Part I considers the period before 1930, examining the emergence and spread of new essentialist ideas of national identity during the age of mass immigration. Part II analyzes the rise of nationalist movements after 1930 by focusing on individuals who self-identified as nationalists.

DeLaney connects the rise of Argentina’s anti-liberal nationalist movements to the shock of early twentieth-century immigration. She examines how pressures posed by the newcomers led to the weakening of the traditional ideal of Argentina as a civic community and the rise of new ethno-cultural understandings of national identity. Identity and Nationalism in Modern Argentina demonstrates that national identities are neither unitary nor immutable and that the ways in which citizens imagine their nation have crucial implications for how they perceive immigrants and whether they believe domestic minorities to be full-fledged members of the national community. Given the recent surge of anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe and the United States, this study will be of interest to scholars of nationalism, political science, Latin American political thought, and the contemporary history of Argentina.

Sujets

• Political Process
• Political Ideologies
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Histoire
• América del Sur
• General officer
• South America
• Latin America
• Catholic
• World
• General

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 25 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780268107918
• Langue: English

Extrait

IDENTITY AND NATIONALISM IN MODERN ARGENTINA
IDENTITY AND
NATIONALISM IN
MODERN ARGENTINA
DEFENDING THE TRUE NATION
JEANE D E LANEY
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
Copyright © 2020 by the University of Notre Dame
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020937069
ISBN: 978-0-268-10789-5 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-10790-1 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-10792-5 (WebPDF)
ISBN: 978-0-268-10791-8 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE
Debating the Nation
Introduction to Part One
O NE
Nation and Nationality in the Nineteenth Century
T WO
National Identity in the Age of Mass Immigration: The Romantic Turn and the Ideal of the Argentine Race
T HREE
Sources of Romantic Nationalism in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina
F OUR
Romantic Influences and the Argentine Radicals
F IVE
Defining the Essence of Argentinidad : Debating Ethnicity and Language, 1900–1930

PART TWO
Identity and Nationalism in the Post-1930 Era
Introduction to Part Two
S IX
The Rise of the Nationalist Right and the Ideal of the Catholic Nation
S EVEN
Anti-imperialism, FORJA, and the Defense of the True Argentina
EIGHT
Essentialism in the Era of Perón
N INE
Resistance and Revisionism: Argentina’s Two Nationalisms after Perón
TEN
From Revisionism to Revolution and Repression
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project has been picked up and laid aside more times than I care to admit, and its journey has been a long one. In the course of research, writing, and conceptualizing (and reconceptualizing) its central arguments, I have incurred many debts, both professional and personal. Several scholars read and provided useful feedback on portions of the manuscript, including Michael Goebel, Sandra McGee Deutsch, Nicola Foote, and David Rock. Diego Armus, who generously read the entire manuscript, offered many suggestions that helped me navigate the tricky issue of early twentieth-century racial discourses. While I’ve not been able to follow all of their advice, this work is immeasurably better for their feedback. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Douglas Klusmeyer, who introduced me to the vast literature on European nationalism and helped me make connections between Argentine and European thought that I would otherwise have missed. Finally, I would like to mention Charles A. Hale and Oscár Terán, both now deceased, who gave generous guidance and encouragement at crucial moments.
Segments of this work have been presented at many conferences, where audience comments helped me clarify and expand my arguments. Of particular importance was the National Endowment for the Humanities conference on New World nationalism organized by Don Doyle and Marco Antonio Pamplona, where a range of scholars focusing on different aspects of nationalism in the Americas came together for fruitful discussion and debate. This work has also benefited from feedback from friends and colleagues at St. Olaf, who read and responded to portions of the manuscript. Worthy of special mention are Gwen Barnes-Karol, Dolores Peters, and Eric Fure-Slocum, whose advice and friendship helped me bring this project to fruition. Research for this project took place over a number of years, and was aided by a number of individuals, who offered ongoing assistance. In Argentina, I wish to thank in particular Lucía Gadano, Magdalena La Porta, and Guillermo Salvías. Closer to home is the dedicated interlibrary loan staff of the St. Olaf library, who tenaciously chased down all sorts of hard-to-access materials.
I feel fortunate that this manuscript found a home at the University of Notre Dame Press. Early on, Stephen Little played an invaluable role in bringing this manuscript to the press’s attention. Eli Bortz did more than anyone else to usher it through the review process, and graciously offered editorial advice on several chapters. Working with copy editor Ann Donahue has been a pleasure, as she has sought to improve my prose, correct my punctuation (especially misplaced commas!), and iron out the complexities of citing some of my more obscure Spanish-language sources.
Last, but certainly not least, comes my family. I have been blessed to be part of a large extended family that is both far-flung and tight-knit, and whose support has always sustained me. But it is to my immediate family, my husband, Jeff, and daughter, Mariah, that most thanks are due. They have lived with this project for much too long, and I deeply appreciate their love, support, and infinite patience. It is to them that this book is dedicated.
Introduction
Nationalism has played an exceptionally powerful role in Argentina’s turbulent history and continues to be a potent political force. Even the most casual student of Argentine politics during the last decade could not help but be struck by the nationalist stance of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who frequently insisted that “Las Malvinas son argentinas” and characterized Argentina’s foreign creditors as “vultures” and “extortionists.” 1 Many of Kirchner’s stances and policies lived up to her rhetoric, including her close ties to the late Hugo Chávez, the expropriation of Spanish-owned shares of the national oil company YPF, and her decree establishing a new Secretariat of National Thought. A Peronist, Kirchner drew from a tradition within Argentine nationalism that was first articulated by the nationalist group FORJA (Fuerza de Orientación Radical de la Joven Argentina) in the 1930s. 2 Founded by Arturo Jauretche (whom Kirchner revered as one of Argentina’s most important intellectuals), FORJA promoted a strand of nationalism that celebrated the masses as the embodiment of the “real” Argentina and attacked the country’s traditional liberal elite as cosmopolitan vendepatrias (sellers of the fatherland). Left-wing and socially inclusive, this strand of nationalism played a key role in shaping the political ideas of Juan Perón in the 1940s and continues to resonate in Argentina today.
Yet as Argentines are well aware, another form of nationalism has played an arguably even greater role in their country’s political life. First emerging in the late 1920s, this right-wing strand of nationalism had as its core mission the defense of Argentina’s supposedly authentic Hispanic and Catholic character. During the 1930s, this nationalism became increasingly antiliberal, as it drew inspiration from European fascism and found support from the most reactionary elements of the Argentine Catholic Church. Argentina’s right-wing nationalists successfully sought to extend their influence within the armed forces and enthusiastically supported the military coups of 1930, 1943, 1955, 1966, and 1976. The latest transition to civilian rule in 1983 failed to extinguish right-wing nationalist sentiment entirely. Although successive civilian governments have largely purged the officer corps of right-wing nationalists, these ideas have been kept alive by an array of civilian groups such as La Juventud Nacional del Partido Popular de Reconstrucción, Movimiento Bastión, and Movimiento por la Identidad Nacional, as well as by scores of personal websites and blogs.
The continued survival of both right- and left-wing forms of antiliberal nationalism raises questions about the long-term prospects for democracy and political pluralism in Argentina. To be sure, many factors have contributed to the weakness of the country’s democratic institutions. Among the most important has been the country’s economic dependency. Although Argentina has long led Latin America in per capita income, its dependent position within the global economy has produced deep income inequality and stubbornly high rates of poverty, creating conditions that have made it difficult for democracy to thrive. Liberal leadership failures and an interventionist military have also played a role. While long espousing faith in democratic rule, the traditional political class has at crucial moments in the country’s history rigged elections and supported military coups to regain power. More broadly, as historian Jorge Nállim has argued, this elite has failed to link political liberalism with the popular ideals of equality, democracy, and social justice. 3
But any attempt to understand the weakness of Argentina’s democratic institutions must also take into account the impact of nationalism and, more specifically, the country’s unique experience with its two forms of nationalism. In contrast to other Latin American cases, in which nationalism was either more uniformly right wing (e.g., early twentieth-century Chile and Brazil) or left-wing (e.g. present-day Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia), or where state-promoted nationalism served as a unifying force (Mexico after 1920 and Cuba after 1959), Argentina produced two very different strands of nationalism, whose leaders had long and active careers, and whose ideas had an impact far beyond nationalist circles. This fact has been a key reason why nationalism in Argentina has proved to be uniquely destabilizing