Readings and interpretations on the origins of Peron’s political movement: A national populism or a fascist adaptation?

• Main Author: Humberto CUCCHETTI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2013-05-01
• Series: Studia Historica: Historia Contemporánea
• Subjects: peronismo; fascismo; nacional-populismo; transferencias culturales
• Online Access: http://revistas.usal.es/index.php/0213-2087/article/view/9903

This paper aims to revisit some of the most important readings that have tried to explain the origins of Peron’s political movement (1943-1955). Referring to the academic discussions, we will find some discussions still unresolved — for example, on its social composition, the socio-political actors who converged there, it’s relations with the religious culture, it’s organizational and state owned model etc. Two troublesome and conceptual issues have excelled as attempts in explaining Peron’s movement phenomenon. The first of them, inherent to its birth, it is linked to the vocation of finding out if, indeed, Peron’s movement constituted a national adaptation of the European fascist experiences. The second one is built around the assumption that is seen in various latin american governments and the in Peron’s movement itself a populism model in particular. If the fascism idea seeks to locate Peron’s movement within the European counterrevolutionary families, the populism seeks to think this phenomenon as the result of a transition society, still linked to traditional values predominance. Both ideas, however, have shared the fact of being formulated on the basis of evaluative principles many times, and generally derogatory. Our work seeks to find out certain readings assumptions and interpretations on Peron’s movement as a proposal to deepen, it is proclaimed the need to differentiate between what could be a comprehensive analysis of Peron’s movement experience, based on their political, state, social and cultural characteristics that might refer to a study of the circulations and political-cultural transfers among different ideas and actors coming from Europe and the national political life.