Abstract

GAMALLO, Leandro. Riots demanding justice in Argentina: The case of Baradero City. Trab. soc. [online]. 2023, vol.24, n.40, pp.189-210.  Epub Jan 01, 2023. ISSN 1514-6871.

This article aims to describe and explain the riot in the city of Baradero, Province of Buenos Aires, on March 21, 2010. That day, after the death of two adolescents, residents of the city destroyed various municipal buildings. They considered that the deaths were caused by municipal transit agents. The actions are presented as a case that exemplifies the way in which collective actions of punitive violence are developed, particularly a special type of these: the riot demanding justice. We draw on the theoretical framework of the politics of collective violence by Charles Tilly to reconstruct the mechanisms and relational processes that gave rise to episodes of destruction. A qualitative methodological strategy based on the application of in-depth interviews with key informants, the consultation of judicial material and the analysis of national and local media has allowed us to restore the violent interactions and the meaning that various actors have given to the actions subsequently. Collective violence is explained in a context in which various processes converged, such as the strong crisis of meaning produced by the death of two adolescents, the pre-existing social tensions in relation to the regulation of local traffic, the dynamics of violent claims expressed in the targets attacked (which includes the tolerance of the security forces towards the destruction) and a possible agitation by political forces in the city.

Keywords : Riots; Collective Violence; Protest; victims.

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