Political Violence and Trauma in Argentina
The Ethnography of Political Violence
Cynthia Keppley Mahmood, Series Editor
A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher.
Political Violence and Trauma in Argentina
Antonius C. G. M. Robben
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
Copyright © 2005 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
First paperback printing 2007
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robben, Antonius C. G. M.
Political violence and trauma in Argentina / Antonius C. G. M. Robben.
p. cm. (The ethnography of political violence)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8122-2006-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8122-2006-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Political violence—Argentina—History—20th century. 2. Argentina—Politics and government—1943–. 3. Argentina—Social conditions—1945–1983. 4. Argentina—Social conditions—1983–. I. Title. II. Series
| HN270.Z9 V555 2005303.6′0982—dc22 | 2004052007 |
To Ellen,
Oscar, and Sofia
Contents
Part I. Groundswell: The Rise and Fall of Argentine Crowds
1. Changing the Course of History: Dignity, Emancipation, and Entrenchment
2. The Time of the Furnaces: Proscription, Compromise, and Insurrection
3. A Breeze Turned into Hurricane: The Apogee of Crowd Mobilization
4. Crowd Clashes: Euphoria, Disenchantment, and Rupture
Part II. Utopia Lost: Guerrilla War and Counterinsurgency
5. Shots in the Night: Revenge, Revolution, and Insurgency
6. The Long Arm of Popular Justice: Punishment, Rebellion, and Sacrifice
7. Revolution Postponed: Anger, Frustration, and Entitlement
8. The Shadows of Death: Improvisation, Counterinsurgency, and Downfall
Part III. Breaking Hearts and Minds: Torture, Self, and Resocialization
9. The War of Cultures: Hierarchy Versus Equality, Christianity Versus Marxism
10. The Wheelworks of Repression: Assault, Abduction, and Annihilation
11. The Operating Theater: Torture, Dehumanization, and Traumatization
Part IV. Argentina’s Nightmare: The Forced Disappearance
13. The Disappearance: Despair, Terror, and Fear
14. The Search: Hope, Anguish, and Illusion
15. The Call for Truth: Defiance, Resistance, and Maternal Power
16. Recovery and Reburial of the Past: Democracy, Accountability, and Impunity
Conclusion: The Spirals of Violence and Trauma
Preface
This is the story of a country of great natural wealth and economic promise torn asunder by violence and trauma. Decades of mounting political violence cost the lives of more than ten thousand people, inflicted unimaginable suffering on many more, and traumatized society in the process. This traumatization was not apparent to me when I visited Argentina in 1978 during a break from fieldwork in Brazil. In retrospect, I understand that the deceptive calm of public life in Buenos Aires had been imposed by state terror and concealed a national tragedy. The atmosphere was entirely different in April 1983, when, again away from fieldwork, I became swept up in the popular effervescence of a protest march against the transitional military government that had replaced a military junta discredited by losing the 1982 Falkland/Malvinas war.
On 16 April 1983, twelve thousand people joined the March for Human Rights to present the military government with a petition demanding that they