Abstract

LASCURAIN, María Cecilia. On the modes of proximity’s representation in contemporary Argentina: “not intimate” proximity in the leadership of Carlos Reutemann in Santa Fe (1991-1995). Astrolabio [online]. 2021, n.26, pp.343-372.  Epub 01, 2021. ISSN 1668-7515.  http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55441/1668.7515.n26.25555.

The article analyzes the characteristics of the political representation bond configured by Carlos Reutemann, governor of the province of Santa Fe between 1991 and 1995. Through the analysis of discourse, in particular, it’s content (composed of public statements of the governor, institutional speeches and electoral propaganda), and the analysis of interviews with Peronist leaders of the time it is observed that Reutemann outlined a bond of “non-intimate” proximity to the citizens of Santa Fe. That is, it displayed a series of elements that correspond with a type of proximity representation (namely: an empathetic presence, a listening without promises or speeches and a self-presentation such as “man of the province” and “non-political”) but this representative bond did not include the exposition of the intimacy of the leader. On the contrary, he preferred a style of closeness through face-to-face contact instead of exposing his private life that mass media makes possible. In this sense, the legitimacy of proximity in Reutemann’s case operated in a unidirectional way: he was the one that “listen” or “empathize” with his represented, instead of allowing people “listen” or “empathize” with any private situation of his own (unlike the proximity leaders analyzed by the literature, in whose case the proximity unfolds in a bi-directional way). The analysis of the figure of the “countryman” that emerges from his particular representative style (with features that project a grim, measured and a lonely personality rejecting the exposition to others) allows identifying a series of attributes that characterize the “non-intimate” representation.

The research, in addition, allows us to reflect on the possibilities of the deployment of a proximity format that does not include the exhibition of the intimacy of the politician, in a time that political exhibition of the private space has become a privileged resource to generate a representative bond that reinforces the closeness and identification with common citizens.

Keywords : Political representation; Legitimacy of proximity; Not intimate proximity; Carlos Reutemann; Santa Fe.

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