/371/ The Milei Massacre Didn't Happen ft. Ernesto Seman
Added 2023-10-24 07:00:03 +0000 UTCOn Argentina's election.
Historian of populism and antipopulism Ernesto Seman tells us about Argentina's historic election. The radical libertarian madman Javier Milei failed to win, and a second-round runoff will be needed, but politics has changed irreparably. The establishment right has been outflanked, while the left-populism of 'Kirchnerismo' is in crisis.
We discuss:
- What is 'Peronism' and how does it occupy so much political space?
- How does Milei appeal to informal workers using market ideology?
- What is distinct about Latin American populism?
- How is anti-populism used to denigrate the masses?
- What is the role of nostalgia for the golden age in Argentina?
Reading:
- In Chile and Argentina, anti-populist politics is failing, Ernesto Seman, FT
- Breve historia del antipopulismo (Brief History of Antipopulism), Ernesto Seman
- Ambassadors of the Working Class, Ernesto Seman
- Javier Milei is not done yet, Alex Hochuli, Unherd
- Javier Milei is not a South American Trump, Alex Hochuli, Unherd
Links:
- /367/ Don’t Pay Them Back ft. Jerome Roos
- /189/ Pink Tide Paradoxes ft. Fabio Luis
- /93/ Hot Chile and Other Neoliberal Failures ft. Pablo Pryluka
Comments
So. Hu...
Andrea
2023-11-20 00:17:55 +0000 UTCThe idea that Argentina was on par with Germany back in the days is a myth diffused through memes with an anti-peronist objective. The living conditions of the population in Argentina (in terms of life expectancy, literacy, income, infant mortality and the like) were very much lower than those of core western countries, at a similar level with other south American countries and southern Europe (indeed, most of the vast immigrant population of the country came from Italy). Argentina had a very wealthy elite that gained immensely from its huge agricultural exports (to the US and UK) and a very sparse population. That is what made it appear (in statistics at least) that Argentina was a rich country. It was not. It had very, very high inequality, much higher than that of the anglophone west or southern Europe though. Argentina had virtually no industry until peronism, and even then it remained very far from Europe and the anglophone countries. One of the notable things of peronism is indeed that it reduced inequality, even if not lowering it more than the rest of western countries. The trend did not return at previous levels after military coups though. There was no golden age in the terms of the "we were like Germany" memes. I'm not referring to the relative decline of the 1970s but only to the earlier German comparison.
Andrea
2023-11-01 17:01:03 +0000 UTC
