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A new mentality for a new economy: performing the homo economicus in Argentina (1976–83)

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 39; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03085141003620170

1469-5766

Daniel Fridman,

Communism, Protests, Social Movements

Abstract Abstract This article examines the construction of the homo economicus in Argentina in the context of the last military dictatorship (1976–83). While the worldviews of the military and neo-liberal economists of the time were very different, their common concern for distortions in economic and political life made them translatable. These economists provided a new economic identity that would be in tune with monetarist theory, replace 'distorting' collective identities and allow individuals to be governed from a distance. I argue that the homo economicus was performed through two sets of tools: consumer campaigns and the financial press. However, individuals did not always behave as expected. The contradictions of neo-liberalism, between its liberalism and its quest to create self-regulating spheres through active government intervention, led to the financial crisis of 1980. Economists later blamed the crash on the irresponsibility of market actors and expressed doubt regarding the self-regulating model they had promoted. In the conclusion, the legacy of the attempt to perform the homo economicus is assessed. Keywords: performativitygovernmentalityArgentinamilitary dictatorshipneo-liberalismconsumer culturefinances Acknowledgements I would like to thank Javier Auyero, Peter Bearman, Mariana Heredia, Emine Onculer, David Sheinin, Diane Vaughan, Pilar Zazueta and the late Charles Tilly for helpful comments on preliminary versions of this article. Thanks also to David Stark and Pilar Opazo for their suggestions. Special thanks to Luis Mikowski, who patiently answered my questions about Argentine finances in the 1970s. This article also would have not been possible without Gil Eyal's encouraging criticism and long conversations with Emiliano Alvarez. Notes 1 A small portion of the works about Thatcherism's economic policies focuses on the creation of 'new subjects'. See, for example, Burrows (1991 Burrows, R. 1991. Deciphering the enterprise culture: Entrepreneurship, petty capitalism, and the restructuring of Britain, London and New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) and Keat and Abercrombie (1991 Keat, R. and Abercrombie, N. 1991. Enterprise culture, London and New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). 2 About neo–liberalism in the Chilean dictatorship, see Biglaiser (2002a Biglaiser, G. 2002a. Guardians of the nation? Economists, generals, and economic reform in Latin America, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. [Google Scholar]), Foxley (1988 Foxley, A. 1988. Experimentos neoliberales en América Latina, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura. [Google Scholar]), Montecinos (1998 Montecinos, V. 1998. Economists, politics and the State: Chile 1958–1994, Amsterdam: CEDLA. [Google Scholar]), Valdes (1995 Valdés, J. G. 1995. Pinochet's economists: The Chicago school in Chile, New York: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]), Vergara (1985 Vergara, P. 1985. Auge y caida del neoliberalismo en Chile, Santiago de Chile: FLACSO. [Google Scholar]) and Winn (2004 Winn , P. 2004 Victims of the Chilean miracle: Workers and neoliberalism in the Pinochet era, 1973–2002 . Durham, NC : Duke University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 3 See, for example, Avellaneda (1986 Avellaneda, A. 1986. Censura, autoritarismo y cultura: Argentina 1960–1983, Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina. [Google Scholar]) on censorship, Feitlowitz (1998 Feitlowitz, M. 1998. A lexicon of terror: Argentina and the legacies of torture, New York: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]) on language and terror, Blaustein and Zubieta (1998 Blaustein, E. and Zubieta, M. 1998. Decíamos ayer: La prensa argentina bajo el Proceso, Buenos Aires: Colihue. [Google Scholar]) on the press, Yanuzzi (1996 Yannuzzi, M. 1996. Política y dictadura: Los partidos poli′ticos y el 'proceso de reorganización nacional, Rosario: Fundación Ross. [Google Scholar]) on political parties, Taylor (1997 Taylor, D. 1997. Disappearing acts: Spectacles of gender and nationalism in Argentina's 'dirty war', Durham, NC: Duke University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) on violence as spectacle, Sheinin (2006 Sheinin, D. 2006. Argentina and the United States: An alliance contained, Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. [Google Scholar]) on foreign policy and human rights, Pozzi (1988 Pozzi, P. 1988. Oposición obrera a la dictadura (1976–1982), Buenos Aires: Contrapunto. [Google Scholar]) on workers' resistance. There are myriad chronicles of repression, torture and terror. 4 Biglaiser (2002a) analyses policy choice under the military regimes of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. 5 Milton Friedman himself visited Chile in 1975 and gave his support to the 'Chicago Boys'. For the relation between the military and the 'Chicago Boys', see Valdes (1995 Valdés, J. G. 1995. Pinochet's economists: The Chicago school in Chile, New York: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]) and Winn (2004 Winn , P. 2004 Victims of the Chilean miracle: Workers and neoliberalism in the Pinochet era, 1973–2002 . Durham, NC : Duke University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 6 His position as the highest economic authority, his regular contact with the media and his frequent speeches are the reasons why this article relies largely on Martínez de Hoz's speeches and writings. His words represent the collective ideas of the economic authorities although the communication function was largely concentrated on him ('Diálogos en el ámbito financiero', 1978 Diálogos en el ámbito financiero 1978 . Ámbito Financiero 22 October 24 . [Google Scholar]). 7 While neo–liberalism is not limited to the Chicago School of monetarism, the latter was the most influential in the period analysed. Sergio Morresi (2007 Morresi , S. D. 2007 . Más allá del neoliberalismo? Estado y neoliberalismo en los años noventa E. Rinesi , G. Nardacchione G. Vommaro , Los lentes de Víctor Hugo: Transformaciones políticas y desafíos teóricos en la Argentina reciente 117 50 . Buenos Aires : Prometeo Libros, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento . [Google Scholar]), pp. 122–7) distinguishes three strands of neo–liberalism that found their way into Argentina. The Vienna School influenced some political circles in the 1950s, the Chicago School peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the Virginia School dominated the 1990s. 8 The Social Pact was an agreement between unions, companies and the state to control prices and salaries and therefore keep inflation rates low. There is an inherent recognition in this kind of policy that inflation is more a political than a technical problem. 9 For a similar shift from a collective to an individualistic notion of consumption in Chile, see Stillerman (2004 Stillerman , J. 2004 . Disciplined workers and avid consumers: Neoliberal policy and the transformation of work and identity among Chilean metalworkers P. Winn , Victims of the Chilean miracle: Workers and neoliberalism in the Pinochet era, 1973–2002 164 208 . Durham, NC : Duke University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). About the politics of consumption during early Peronism, see Elena (2007 Elena, E. 2007. Peronist consumer politics and the problem of domesticating markets in Argentina, 1943–1955. Hispanic American Historical Review, 87(1): 111–49. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Milanesio (2006 Milanesio, N. 2006. The guardian angels of the domestic economy': Housewives' responsible consumption in Peronist Argentina. Journal of Women. s History, 18(3): 91 [Google Scholar]). 10 The national GDP decreased in 1978, grew 7.1 per cent in 1979 and 1 per cent in 1980 (BCRA, 1981 BCRA 1981 . Memoria anual 1980 . Buenos Aires : El Banco . [Google Scholar], p. 8). These numbers show that the financial sector growth was comparatively much higher than the general GDP growth. 11 Other economic newspapers, like El Cronista Comercial, and magazines, like Mercado, were not devoted solely to financial activities. Despite their long histories, they did not experience the growth that Ámbito Financiero did.