Military and Catholicisms in Twentieth-Century Argentina: from a Political and Ideological History to a Social and Cultural History

Abstract

Since the “democratic opening” of December 1983, the relations between the military and Catholicisms in twentieth-century Argentina were thought by the social sciences mainly in their political and ideological dimensions, that is, in the constitution of authoritarianisms, in the genesis and history of Peronism and in the political and repressive interventions of the Armed Forces in society. The priority given to this approach and issues is neither arbitrary nor unjustified. However, is it possible to produce a more comprehensive knowledge about these relationships? This article answers that question and other questions: what is the state of our knowledge about these relationships? What critical historiographical interpretations can we formulate about this state of the art? What vacant topics would be meaningful to study in new research, especially from the perspective of a social and cultural history?.