Revisiting Argentina’s Recuperated Factories - Reflections on Over a Decade of Workers’ Control

Abstract

More than a decade after Argentina’s socio-economic, political and financial collapse in the period 2001-2002, over two hundred recuperated factories currently operate under the direct control of workers. In many cases the recuperations were a direct response to the growing number of bankruptcies and plant closures in the face of deteriorating economic circumstances. The article revisits the workers’ struggle and examines the specific socio-historical context that facilitated the emergence of Argentina’s recuperated workplaces during the 1990s and in the aftermath of the country’s crisis. It further analyzes the post-crisis policies of stabilization and outlines the movements’ present situation. Finally, the document concludes by drawing on Gramsci’s observations on factory occupations in post-war Italy and his reflections about the relationship between economic crisis, ideological struggle and social transformation.