Argentines ask how their ultracivilized country, reputedly the most European in Latin America, could have relapsed into near-barbarism in the 1970s. This enlightening study seeks to answer that question by reviewing the underlying political events and intellectual foundations of the "dirty war" (1975-1978) and overlapping Military Process (1976-1982). It examines the ideologies and actions of the main protagonists-the armed forces, guerrillas, and organized labor-over time and traces them to their roots.

In the most comprehensive treatment of the subject to date, Hodges examines primary materials never seen by other researchers, including clandestinely published guerrilla documents, and interviews important actors in Argentina's political drama. His wide-ranging scholarship traces the origins of the national security and national salvation doctrines to the Spanish Inquisition, sixteenth-century witch hunts, and nineteenth-century reactions to the modernizing ideologies of liberalism, democracy, socialism, and communism.

Hodges posits that the "dirty war," Military Process, and revolutionary war to which they responded represented the culmination of social tensions that arose in 1930 with the launching of the Military Era by Argentina's first successful twentieth-century coup. He offers the disquieting hypothesis that as long as the "Argentine Question" remains unsettled the military may intervene again, the resistance movement will remain strong, and violence may continue even under a democratic government.

Seeks to answer just how Argentina could have lapsed into near-barbarism in the 1970s

About the Author

Donald C. Hodges (1923-2009) was Professor of Philosophy and Affiliate Professor of Political Science at Florida State University.

Reviews
"The research material in this book is a very important addition to knowledge on Argentine politics and the 'military process.' .. . The contribution is unique because of the interviews, documentary sources, and periodical sources analyzed by the author. Likewise, [he] offers fascinating and controversial ministudies in intellectual history that I have seen nowhere else in English or Spanish." Brian Loveman, professor of political science, San Diego State University



Book Information
ISBN 9780292729476
Author Donald C. Hodges
Format Paperback
Page Count 407
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 454g