Disciplining Labour, Producing Poverty: Neoliberal Structural Reforms And Political Conflict In Argentina

One of the most important outcomes of neoliberalism in Argentina has been the drastic and negative transformation of the experience of work for the majority of Argentines. In this sense neoliberalism performed effectively as a disciplining mechanism for the working class. Moreover, under the convertibility regime implemented for a decade since 1991, the pressure exercised over wages and working conditions was increased under conditions that made reducing labour costs the critical variable in the adjustment of whole sectors of the economy to the new context. Under these circumstances, I will argue that the most relevant and enduring implication of structural reforms in Argentina has been the consolidation of precarious work as the new reality of employment for a very large segment of the working class. To develop my argument, I will look at the transformation of Argentina over the last 25 years, that is following the period of military dictatorship that since 1976 was responsible for the first neoliberal program. Nonetheless, it was really in the 1990s with the implementation of a programme that made the peso fully convertible to the dollar (the convertibility plan) that neoliberal reforms gained momentum. With this discussion as the backdrop, I will then address the more concrete implications of convertibility on the transformation of labour markets.