Civil servants or piqueteers? UTEP and Unidad Piquetera: two paths facing Argentina’s govern ment Frente de Todos
Abstract
The nature of the relationship between social organisations and the state and governments has been one of the central themes in studies of the unemployed workers’ movement in Argentina. Generally, these relationships have been anal ysed using dichotomous categories, examining on a case by-case basis whether organisations were ‘pro-government’ or ‘opposition’, or whether they were ‘co-opted’ or ‘autono mous’ in relation to governments. Within these frameworks, organisations within Argentina’s unemployed workers’ movement followed two distinct paths during the Frente de Todos government between 2019 and 2023. A group of organisations, predominantly national-popular and from the left-wing Peronist spectrum, aligned themselves with the government, placed activists in state positions and deep ened their unionisation strategy, positioning themselves as part of the ‘popular economy’. Another significant group of organisations opposed the national government and, em phasising the category of ‘piqueteros’, prioritised participa tion in street demonstrations and land occupations. This article explores both the pro-government and oppo sition strategies during the Frente de Todos government and Alberto Fernández’s presidency, and analyses am bivalent situations in which the organisations studied ad opted positions and took actions that defy the binary dis tinction between pro-government and opposition groups. These findings highlight points of convergence between the various strategies adopted by organisations, thereby adding complexity to the relationship between social or ganisations, the state and the political system.
