| This thesis draws on fieldwork with activist pensioners in Argentina, making use of ethnographic data and life history interviews to examine people's commitment to the jubilados movement. The political nature of their activism is critically examined in light of the rejection by many of the use of ‘politics’ to describe their activism. This is compared to work on neoliberalism that suggests that this model has a de-politicizing effect on the discourse of social welfare. Throughout, the thesis integrates life history interviews and ethnographic data, along with literature on larger historical and social processes.; The thesis first traces the pensioners' histories in order to explore the conditions and experiences that inform their activism.; The thesis next turns to the concept of activism as political work, with attention drawn to the tension between those who consider their work political and those who reject that description.; Finally, the thesis looks at how their demands that the state provide health and welfare in fact emerge from broader convictions about the need for social change and justice. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
