Cambiemos: The End of Domination through the Exercise of Hegemony in Argentina

Abstract

Argentina was included in Latin America’s “left turn” during the kirchnerista administrations (2003-2015). This article argues that that process was guided by the construction of hegemony by a fraction of the power bloc, which attended to some popular demands. The logic of populism marked the form of this process, which led to the intensification, beginning in 2008, of the antagonism with fractions that had been removed from the ruling bloc, permitting the consolidation of a kirchnerista identity. At the same time, this allowed the creation of a heterogeneious opposition alliance, which was able to win the elections with a demagogic discourse. The new Cambiemos (“Let’s change”) coalition represents a different fraction of the power bloc, which is less disposed to engage in legitimating spending, and promotes a form of domination that is more direct or has fewer mediations.