Potentiality of Discussions on Trade Union Revitalization to Think the Recent History of the Argentine Labor Movement

Abstract

In this work, we revisit the “revitalization” debate, tracing its origins to the English-language scholarship and then analyzing its reception in Argentina. We intend to appraise its relevance for a historical analysis of transformations in unions' action. First, we recognize the different meanings assigned to the concept in English-language scholarship, which in turn differed from those present in Argentine literature. The key element in our argument lies on how to periodize and/or characterize the “crisis of union representation” at a local level. On that basis, we discuss the periodization used to analyze unions' transformations in terms of revitalization. We also recover the potential in some strategies implied in this concept in order to examine little analyzed organizational paths and protest actions in recent history.