Francisco Longa
Objective/context: This article analyzes the strategies of Argentina's unemployed movement in relation to the state, governments, and the political system, thirty years after its emergence. Born during the cycle of protests in the late 1990s, Argentina's unemployed organizations gained visibility, first and foremost, for their contentious actions and their independence from the political system. However, since the country's progressive cycle, the unemployed movement has become institutionalized, winning laws and public policies, and in some cases even bringing its leaders into government positions. Methodology: This article is the product of qualitative and longitudinal research in political sociology, carried out with organizations of the unemployed movement over a period of twenty years. The main data collection techniques were interviews and documentary analysis. Conclusions: The organizations studied underwent a neo-corporate shift that involved putting their desire to break with the political system on the back burner in order to incorporate a strategy of negotiation and cooperation with the state and governments. In doing so, they consolidated their position as union representatives of unemployed and informal workers. This shift was made possible, in turn, by the openness of ruling elites of different political persuasions to negotiate with this actor. Originality: this article offers novel empirical findings on the arenas in which social movements operate, showing the interaction of the unemployed movement with the state and traditional political parties; it also shows the exceptional nature of the Argentine case, as academic literature claimed that unemployed movements were not capable of remaining active for prolonged periods of time.