Between Resistance and Repression: New Writing on Argentine Political Radicalism, 1955-1976

Abstract

The two decades between 1955 and 1976, bookended by the beginning of amilitary coup that ousted populist President Juan Perón in 1955 and the dictatorshipthat replaced a democratically elected government in 1976, was a periodof tremendous political radicalism that would leave a permanent impression onArgentina’s political history. During this period, left wing parties in Argentina,already “extensive, prolific, [with] countless complexities and contradictions,” 2gradually transformed from traditional orthodox parties of the left and the labormovement into a ‘new left,’ introducing a wide range of ideological influences.The nueva izquierda drew from crowds of intellectuals, university students,defectors from traditional parties, guerrillas, and social movements, raisinga challenge to the legitimacy of traditional leftist parties in representing thespectrum of political concerns and ambitions of the left.