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      University of California Press

      Oakland, California

      © 2020 by Jennifer Adair

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Adair, Jennifer, 1977– author.

      Title: In search of the lost decade : everyday rights in post-dictatorship Argentina / Jennifer Adair.

      Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2019019904 (print) | LCCN 2019980965 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520305175 (cloth) | ISBN 9780520305182 (paperback) | ISBN 9780520973282 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Argentina—Politics and government—1983–2002. | Argentina—Economic conditions—1983– | Argentina—Social conditions—1983–

      Classification: LCC F2849.2 .A29 2020 (print) | LCC F2849.2 (ebook) | DDC 982.06—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019019904

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019980965

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

       For Julián and Elio

      Contents

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

      1. The Breakdown of Authoritarian Rule

      2. The Campaign for a Democratic Argentina

      3. “With Democracy One Eats”: The Programa Alimentario Nacional

      4. “Chernobyl Chickens”: Economic Planning and the Caso Mazzorín

      5. “Dear Mr. President”: The Transition in Letters

      6. Democratic Pasts, Neoliberal Futures: Hyperinflation and the Road to Austerity

       Epilogue: Carrying Forward the Promise of 1983

       Notes

       Bibliography

       Index

Acknowledgments

      In historical terms, this book examines a brief period: the roughly six-year government of Raúl Alfonsín following Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983. The making of this book took much longer, with many people and institutions to thank along the way. I am grateful to them all.

      I first arrived in Buenos Aires in 2004, when the study of Argentina’s recent history had opened in new ways after the 2001 economic crisis and the mass popular protests that ensued. Among other outcomes, the uprisings forced a reassessment of the nation’s authoritarian past and its lingering effects on the democratic present. I had the privilege to witness these debates up close while working with the organization Memoria Abierta, an alliance of human rights groups dedicated to preserving the memory of the dictatorship that ruled from 1976 to 1983. My time at Memoria Abierta gave me a crash course in Argentine history. Through their labor and activism, the inspiring archivists, historians, and artists who worked there demonstrated how history and memory operate in daily life, along with the firm conviction that engaging the past can make change. This book began there, through the friendships and projects cultivated over the years.

      As the ideas that inform this book took shape, I was fortunate to be mentored by a generous group of scholars and teachers. Katie Hite, Leslie Offutt, and Matilde Zimmermann first sparked my interest in Latin American history and politics at Vassar College. Their courses, scholarship, and one formative trip to Cuba convinced me to study history, while their guidance continues to light the way. The Department of History at New York University was an ideal academic home for many years, due above all to the unwavering encouragement of my advisers and their intellectual example. Greg Grandin supported this project from the beginning and at every turn helped make it better. He found elegant ways to distill and express complicated ideas and pushed me to understand Latin America’s tradition of social rights with greater clarity. I owe much more than I can express to his generosity, his incisive readings, and the instruction of his politically engaged scholarship. Some of my favorite moments in graduate school were spent in Sinclair Thomson’s seminars, where he modeled the rigor and creativity of the most gracious mentors. His enthusiasm for this project and the care of his always detailed and lucid comments mark this book. I was lucky to be at the beginning stages of fieldwork when Barbara Weinstein joined the Department of History. The depth of her intellectual engagement with Latin American history and the combination of her brilliance, steady counsel, and warmth have been invaluable ever since. In Buenos Aires, Elizabeth Jelin encouraged this project years ago when it was still a vague inkling. Her observations and criticisms sharpened my investigation into post-dictatorship Argentina and continually pushed me to go beyond facile conclusions and straw men. She generously opened her personal archives and helped see this project to completion. I also benefited enormously from the feedback of Ada Ferrer, whose seminars and scholarship left lasting impressions.

      My peers in the history department made NYU a vibrant and fulfilling place to study. Many of the friendships made there continue to enrich my life. Thanks to Lina Britto, Joaquín Chávez, Anne Eller, Aldo Marchesi, Yuko Miki, Daniel Rodriguez, Federico Sor, Franny Sullivan, Christy Thornton, Josh Frens-String, and Ana María Quesada, among others. Martín Sivak generously set up interviews and contacts in Buenos Aires and offered useful comments on several chapters. Ernesto Semán dedicated countless hours to talking through the ideas for this book and helped shape the direction that it ultimately took. I will always be grateful for that time and his friendship. Michelle Chase and Carmen Soliz read and then re-read multiple versions of several chapters and improved many of the arguments. Lisa Ubelaker Andrade deserves special mention. Much of this book was first written, in dissertation form, side by side in multiple cafés throughout Buenos Aires. She has been a sounding board and confidant for this project and many more. I struggled with where to place her in these acknowledgments, since she has been a part of this book at practically every stage. Thanks, pal.

      Navigating the archives in Argentina often presents challenges to researchers. This book would not be possible without the expertise of the dedicated archivists and staff at several research institutions, public archives, and libraries. I thank the archivists at the Archivo General de la Nación/Departamento Archivo Intermedio for leading me to the letters that are the subject of the fifth chapter. The Comisión Provincial por la Memoria

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