Relationships, significations, and orientations toward a collective acting of the Afro descendants and Africans in Argentina

Abstract

In this work, we will analyze the collective actions of Afro descendants and Africans in Argentina regarding social movements (SMs). That is, we intend to understand the relationships, significations, and orientations toward collective action. Following Alberto Melucci's approach, we should not consider SMs as an ‘empiric unit’ but an ‘analytical category’, through which it may be possible to understand Afro-Argentine collective social action. The SMs are social constructions, and their work should be analyzed as a result, not as a starting point. We consider an SM as instituting, not as instituted, as a form of collective action oriented toward the construction of a new identity. Individuals construct their objectives, make choices, and take action according to the perception of their environments in relation to the social expectations. Therefore, we understand an SM as a network formed by a wide variety of groups and individuals scattered but interconnected, a network submerged in the daily life and from where the collective identity and the links for action are structured.