Fighting State Terror and Becoming the State: Argentina’s Human Rights Movement from Mass Mobilization to Institutionalization

Abstract

The past decade has seen a seismic shift in Argentine human rights activists’ ability to accomplish long-held goals of bringing perpetrators to justice and preserving the memory of victims of the Civil-State dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s. Theories of courageous resistance to injustice posit that all struggles for justice bring changes to the context, networks and people, which can make future pro-social advocacy more likely. Using a variety of evidence, we assess the impact of nearly 40 years of sustained activism. We argue that there are resulting shifts in the realms of 1) context (newly created and modified legal and state institutions, cultural changes and modification of the physical landscape), 2) relationships between activists, society and the Argentine state, and 3) socialization factors that affect attitudes and behaviors of Argentines (the ways that the era is referenced, taught and memorialized). We contend that each of these enduring legacies of activism make future human rights atrocities in Argentina highly unlikely. Further, we argue that because of these enormous gains, segments of the movement struggle to define themselves relative to the state, trying to avoid being captured by governmental interests and to maintain sufficient independence to effectively pressure the state.