Migratory Policies, Rationalizing Myths, Migrant Coalitions, Ruling Elites and Human Rights in Argentina (2003-2015)

Abstract

This work’s central objective is to describe and explain, from a case study, the role of rationalizing myths and institutionalization processes in the configuration of migration policies in Argentina during the Kirchner period (2003-2015), to incorporate into the analysis, the intervention of the ruling political elites, native human rights organizations, as well as distributive organizations and coalitions of migrants residing in the country. It is argued that the myths progressively acted as sources of legitimacy for migration policies and were articulated from the development of two political narratives: the one corresponding to human rights and the narrative of the internal security of the State; the latter emanated from its political elites as a result of military dictatorships and human rights violations. It is assumed as a working hypothesis that the deployment of both the narratives of human rights in the public sphere and security and border control defined the continuity of migration policy in Argentina. In this process, two rationalizing myths were built: the guarantee of human rights based on the migration policies drawn up by the military dictatorship and their replacement or not by other migration policies based on human rights. Hemerographic techniques were used for data collection, and in-depth interviews with key informants in Argentina were applied.