Mediaciones sociales y burocráticas en la era digital. La política social argentina en tiempos de pandemia

Abstract

This article discusses the assumption that the digitalization of social policies entails a reduction in the participation of bureaucratic, social and political actors in their distribution and management. It draws on an empirical research on the implementation of the Emergency Family Income (ife) during the covid‑19 pandemic in Argentina, a massive cash transfer policy that constitutes an exceptional case of digitization. The article shows the unexpected activities of social, political and state mediators in the implementation process. Particularly, it analyses their role as operators, providers and translators of the technological devices necessary to process the policy. Thus, the article provides clues about the bureaucratic and political implications of digitization, beyond the context of the pandemic and the socio‑assistance policy.