Social policy and collective action: Unemployed workers, community associations, and protest in Argentina

Abstract:
This article examines associations of unemployed and informal workers in Argentina. The focus is on movements that emerged as a reaction to the government‟s workfare program in the late-1990s. Collective organising was encouraged by dissatisfaction with the program, its low supply (only covering 8 per cent of the unemployed), and the absence of clear criteria for beneficiary selection and for determining the renewal or nonrenewal of benefits when the contracts ended raised opposition. At the same time the programs aided the emergence of new community based organisations because based on the terms of the programs, community associations could administer program benefits by starting projects aiming to create employment. Associations that emerged sought to address issues such as access to housing and food, but also to negotiate with the government in order to demand a broader distribution of benefits. Negotiations were only accepted by the government after the associations mobilized and set up roadblocks and demonstrations. The paper also discusses linkages between the new community based movement and party politics.