Austerity Programs in Argentina and the Structural Continuity of Extractivism: A Feminist Perspective

Abstract

The government that took office in Argentina in December 2015 shaped a mode of development oriented toward finance and extractivism, trade and capital liberalization, and austerity policies. One of the main goals was to reduce the fiscal deficit and to lower domestic production costs in order to increase international competitiveness. Many measures implemented, such as the pension reform of 2017, budget cuts in gender-sensitive areas, and the change in the nature of social policies, had a differential impact on women and LGBT people when compared to men. However, beyond the measures taken by a particular government, the characteristics of extractivism and land concentration are structural dimensions with profound biases in their impacts in terms of gender.