"Redefining the ‘Rules of the Game’: Labor Legislation, Authoritarianism, and Hegemony in Argentina, 1974-1981" (original) (raw)

SECOLAS Annual Meeting, 2020

Abstract

This presentation examines the intersection between labor legislation and shop-floor labor relations in Argentina between the death of Juan Perón in July 1974 and the end of the de facto presidency of General Jorge Rafael Videla in 1981. The March 24, 1976 coup d’état that inaugurated the self-styled Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (Process of National Reorganization) has long been considered an inflection point in Argentina’s recent history. However, I suggest that analyzing the creation, enactment, and application of labor law across this periodization illuminates the goals of the military regime and, more importantly, why the Proceso was unable to achieve those goals. Although the dictatorship sought to redefine the capital-labor relationship, its efforts—and especially its legislative agenda—had limited impact on the day-to-day rhythm of the shop floor. To the extent that Argentine labor relations underwent a significant transformation during the late 1970s, that transformation reflected other factors at least as much, if not more than, the regime’s goals. This paper makes two related arguments. First, I show that this metaphor of the “rules of the game” enjoyed widespread use from the factory floor to the halls of the Ministry of Labor, and that these diverse actors invested the concept with something close to a shared meaning. This, in turn, highlights what the Proceso hoped to accomplish vis-à-vis labor relations. Second, I argue that William Roseberry’s definition of hegemony as a means for controlling conflict offers new insight into why the dictatorship failed to implement its ambitious national reorganization.

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