During the mid-twentieth century, Latin American countries witnessed unprecedented struggles over the terms of national sovereignty, civic participation, and social justice. Nowhere was this more visible than in Peronist Argentina (1946-1955), where Juan and Eva Peru00f3n led the regionAEs largest populist movement in pursuit of new political hopes and material desires. Eduardo Elena considers this transformative moment from a fresh perspective by exploring the intersection of populism and mass consumption. He argues that Peronist actors redefined national citizenship around expansive promises of a vida digna (dignified life), which encompassed not only the satisfaction of basic wants, but also the integration of working Argentines into a modern consumer society. From the mid-1940s onward, the state moved to boost purchasing power and impose discipline on the marketplace, all while broadcasting images of a contented populace.
Drawing on documents such as the correspondence between Peronist sympathizers and authorities, Elena sheds light on the contest over the dignified life. He shows how the consumer aspirations of citizens overlapped with Peronist paradigms of state-led development, but not without generating great friction among allies and opposition from diverse sectors of society. Consumer practices encouraged intense public scrutiny of class and gender comportment, and everyday objects became freighted with new cultural meaning. By providing important insights on why Peronism struck such a powerful chord, Dignifying Argentina situates Latin America within the broader history of citizenship and consumption at mid-century, and provides innovative ways to understand the politics of redistribution in the region today.
Industry Reviews
A must-read for historians of Argentina as well as for Latin Americanists interested in the history of populism and consumption. Given its clear prose and broad theme, the book may also be useful in advanced undergraduate courses.-- "Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History"
Although much has been published in Spanish in recent years looking at Peronism in a more objective and less partisan fashion, the literature in English remains dominated by an often trivialising view of [Peron] and his movement as a crude version of Latin American fascism. This excellent book makes a considerable conribution to reverting this biased viewpoint.-- "Bulletin of Latin American Research"
Eduardo Elena's study is a deeply researched and major contribution to Argentine historiography. For specialists on Argentina it represents one of the most important studies of the last decade. Dignifying Argentina presents a cogent analysis of state policies and their reception, in which we learn much about popular consumption, the nature of Peronism, and modern Argentine history itself.-- "James Brennan, University of California Riverside"
Elena's book should be required reading for those interested in a fresh interpretation of Peronism and an original look at postwar policy making and political economy. Readers searching for a compelling analysis of the always complex yet fascinating relationship between the state and citizen consumers will not be disappointed.-- "HAHR"
Makes a compelling case for Peronism's persistence into the twenty-first century as directly tied to a powerful, lingering sense among working Argentines that the state has an important political role to play in the maintenance of dignifying living conditions for all citizens.-- "Canadian Journal of History"
Provides a fresh perspective on the relationship linking political and socio-economic change--between populism and mass consumption--and in so doing provides a potential lifeline to drowning materialists. . . . Sheds new light on why Peronism struck such a chord in the most Europeanised society of the Americas while, in its way, putting a spring back into the step of class analysis itself.-- "Latin American Review of Books"
