Young Political Activists in Government-Supporting Organizations: Argentina from a Regional Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse youth activism that was politically linked to the recent kirchnerist governments in Argentina, especially Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's two administrations (2007-2011, 2011-2015), particularly since the so-called farmers conflict in 2008. In order to achieve that goal, we propose to approach some of the characteristics of social and political mobilization during the period, identifying, firstly, transformations that affected the ways in which social and collective movements conceptualized and bonded with the State since the mid-90s. Secondly, we are interested in exploring the construction of new groups and organizations that came to define themselves as juvenile or as an activist youth. That is, where youth became a relevant category and the object of legitimacy of activist practices. Thirdly, we propose to explore the links that these organizations built with the government, which led them to be identified as government-supporting youth (juventudes oficialistas). This sort of identification refers to political parties and other political organizations, with different ideological traditions, that become part of any level of government (national, provincial, local). We will, thus, describe this general universe, but focus our analysis in understanding those linked to the administrations of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. This article seeks to offer some answers to the question of how youth participation is conceived and unfolds in parties or political organizations and movements that are related to a government, and, thus, to the State. To do this, we will look at the logics, practices and the construction of political careers or paths by these young activists in Argentina. But we will also seek to connect the findings of our research with those obtained by other researchers who have addressed a similar question youth activism in government-supporting organizations? for other countries of the region, especially studies that have referred to the so-called ?progressive? or ?Left turn? administrations in South America. Moreover, in light of the changes that have recently occurred in Argentina and other countries of the region, we will dedicate a section of the article to dealing with some of the transformations that followed Mauricio Macri?s arrival to power, with the electoral alliance Cambiemos. We consider that a retrospective interpretation that takes into account those changes promoted by the new government, together with its anti-activism and minimal-state rethoric, can enrich our comprehension of the dynamics that defined the building of political youth as an activist cause during the kirchnerist years. In order to approach our research questions, we will revisit studies and academic debates on activism, political careers, patrimonialism, elites and state bureaucracies, exploring the contributions that each of these perspectives have made to understanding activism(s) that involve an insertion, whether it is practical or expected/projected, in the State. In other words, the territory in which public administration (and state posts) intertwines with political activism. In writing this article we will base on the results of our own individual empirical research, as well as collective findings from the GEPOJU (Group of Studies in Politics and Youth), that we are both part of. Through the analysis of qualitative interviews, surveys, organizations documents, and participant observation that nurtured our fieldwork up for several years up to 2015, we aim to produce a comprehensive account of youth activism in the recent past.