Another turn to the “return to the countryside”. Reflections on Peronism and historiography

Abstract

The paper uses the case of "la vuelta al campo" ("the return to the countryside") –an expression that refers to the turn Perón made in his economic policies to favor the agricultural sector in the middle of his first government– to propose a more general reflection on Peronism and recent historiography. In particular, to discuss the thesis that, along with the shift in prices and credits to the sector, which became necessary to solve the shortage of foreign exchange due to a decline in agricultural exports, Perón also backed down on other policies to ingratiate himself with the landowners. In light of the findings of recent historiography, it is argued that, beyond the changes to improve the situation of the agricultural sector, there was no reversal of other policies (such as those on land tenure or labor) or a retreat in the benefits he had granted to its most disadvantaged sectors, neither by revoking measures nor by reducing the vigilance of the state agencies in charge of applying them