Democracy Devalued: Between the Promises of Democracy and Neoliberalism, from Alfonsín to Macri (1983–2019)

This chapter focuses on the challenges involved in restoring democracy after 1983, the difficulties faced by Raúl Alfonsín’s government, Carlos Menem’s rise to power, and the implementation of a drastic program of neoliberal reforms that had a profound effect on Argentine society, economy, and culture. The chapter goes on to examine the deepest crisis Argentina has ever suffered, the December 2001 rebellion, and the forms of resistance that preceded and followed it. It then moves on to the unexpected transformation of Peronism during the governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the defeat of the latter at the hands of Mauricio Macri, who in 2015 implemented policies that were similar to those of the 1990s. The chapter includes a section on the rapid changes in gender relations and sexualities after 1983 and concludes with the 2019 reorganization of Peronism that brought Alberto Fernández to power.