Abstract
In the last few decades the concept of self-regulation accompanied the process of dismantling the welfare state. In this context, in central countries—Europe and North America—the importance given to private regulations versus public action increased, thus requiring new mechanisms of legitimacy. To this end, appeals to the principles of economy and technical efficiency to legitimate private regulations have been made by several researchers. However, these principles acquired a negative view in Argentina because they were used to use to legitimate processes that led to various crises, especially taking into consideration the neo-liberal experience of the 1990s. Against this historical background, this paper seeks to show a particular case of legitimizing the self-regulation of non-state organizations (social clubs) by using classic <em>topoi</em>, which had been historically used to legitimize state action. In order to do so, this text focuses on the analysis of “Luna de Avellaneda” Act of 2007, by which the government of Buenos Aires sought to legitimize the self-regulation of clubs appealing to the classical values of democracy, participation, and solidarity. For this, the historical experience of the Argentinean political community will be observed from the perspective of the history of these clubs, thus recovering the social function they played in the diverse political and economic crises.
Highlights
In the last few decades of the twentieth century, the state was thought of as a phenomenon in crisis and, underwent a process of dismantling that spread rapidly throughout the world
The objective of this essay will be to show how in the year 2007 the Buenos Aires provincial government sought to legitimize the selfregulation exercised by social clubs in times of neoliberal state crisis (1999–2007) using a state-like regulation (Luna de Avellaneda Act)
Among the various non-state self-regulation experiences that can be traced in Argentine history, social clubs deserve to be highlighted for two reasons
Summary
In the last few decades of the twentieth century, the state was thought of as a phenomenon in crisis and, underwent a process of dismantling that spread rapidly throughout the world. These principles are recognized by the population as the arguments that served to dismember the welfare state, which led to an economic, political, and social crisis with severe consequences for the citizenry (Svampa, 2005) Under these particular circumstances, the way of legitimizing self-regulation tends to differ from what has occurred in central countries. The objective of this essay will be to show how in the year 2007 the Buenos Aires provincial government sought to legitimize the selfregulation exercised by social clubs in times of neoliberal state crisis (1999–2007) using a state-like regulation (Luna de Avellaneda Act) From this norm, the effectiveness of the use of classic topoi will be discussed, that is, topoi traditionally linked to justify state regulations (democracy, participation, solidarity), to legitimize the self-regulation of the civil society organizations. This analysis seeks to show how the government made strategic use of the clubs’ history in order to recover the lost legitimacy of the state after a period of neo-liberal politics (conclusions)
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