Keywords
Argentina, protest, piqueteros, neoliberalism, Kirchner, media, newspapers, urban issues, workers’ rights
Abstract
Around the turn of the twenty-first century, the piquetero movement in Argentina expanded the political sphere in Argentina by forming new coalitions of unions, the unemployed, and leftist parties in the midst of an economic crisis. However, media coverage of the protests often flattened the category of protester in a category discrete from that of the public, which more closely resembled the media’s middle class, apolitical audience. Through this rhetorical separation between the piquetero and the “public,” the newspapers Clarín and La Nación focused their discourse on the “violent” tactics of the protests, ignoring their economic demands and the struggle they faced. As social movements sought to reject the liberal framework grounded in individualism, that framework was reinforced by the media as they prioritized the rights of individual citizens above those of protest organizations.
Recommended Citation
Himes, Grant C. (2026) "The Impossibility of Anti-Capitalist Protests in Liberal Discourse: A Study of Media Rhetoric during the Piquetero Movement in Argentina, 2003-2007," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 7 (2), 91-123. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol7/iss2/3