Conservative restorations in Argentina and Brazil: the intimate and the public under attack
Instituto Germani, Universidad de Buenos Aires. J. E.Uriburu,950. Buenos Aires, Argentina.<[email protected]>
Based on the reflection that greets us in the mirror, we in Argentina watch the recent political processes in Brazil – our brother country – with intellectual and political concern. We feel reflected in certain aspects, but not in others. Here, I propose a few reflections inspired by the article that supports this debate.
Back in the era of 1990s neoliberalism, there was a minimal consensus in Argentina’s political class and in society at large regarding the universality of citizens’ rights to education and healthcare. The structural adjustment, which at the time was of a single solution to deal with the state’s fiscal crisis, promoted the privatization of public companies, mass layoffs, salary reductions, limited workers’ rights, and the abandonment of universal social policies. But education – and above all, healthcare – were still seen as almost unassailable.
