Poster Child or Victim of Imperialist Globalization? Explaining Argentina's December 2001 Political Crisis and Economic Collapse

Abstract

In the early 1990s, Argentina was the poster child for successful proglobalization adjustment policies. However, the economic crisis and social explosion of December 2001, resulting in the overthrow of two presidents in a week and the catastrophic collapse of the Argentine economy, challenge the assumption that globalization is irreversible.' As the Argentine economy imploded, domestic politics gained center stage and the hegemonic proglobalization discourse was replaced by a new emphasis on the domestic market and on pulling the country out of a four-year recession. The conventional wisdom in the United States is that the Argentine crisis was Argentina's own fault-that if Argentine politicians had implemented the right macroeconomic policies the crisis would not have occurred. The