Date of Award

5-19-2019

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department

Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies

First Advisor

Marcelo Borges

Language

English

Abstract

This investigation uses the 1976 coup d’état as its basis to examine how Argentine society transformed its memory of the events that occurred during this time period into social activism. I base my research in the study of memory and politics in Argentina to ultimately understand how a society used the memory of the disappeared to develop the escrache. The escrache is a political demonstration where organized groups develop engaged methods to publicly “out” figures who were actively involved in the disappearance of civilians during the dictatorship. In deconstructing the components of the escrache, I delve into the development and role of memory in post-dictatorship Argentina and its importance to the escrache. Understanding the escrache as a social movement, I identify the aspects where the escrache deviates from traditional forms of protest and social movements. Lastly, using local newspapers spanning three decades, I focus on the characterization of and scholarship about escraches in Argentina, noting how they have been interpreted and how those interpretations have shifted over time. This investigation’s importance lies in how the escrache allows its participants the ability to transgress private and public spaces, implementing a model that emphasizes the reclamation of space through the performance of the escrache.

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