Paper short abstract:

We shall seek to empirically and theoretically determine the idea of “radical” from an ethnography carried out within slums (villas miserias) in Buenos Aires and its periphery, and more precisely from a description and analysis of slum dwellers’ representations and actions.

Paper long abstract:

Theoretically or philosophically, concepts tend to put forward universal definitions, to show the essential and necessary characters of things, and to overlook the particular, the accidental and contingencies. Should the concept of "radical" as any concept espouse these properties?

However, concepts that are solely defined in this way are abstract and indeterminate. They remain partial, poor and simplistic. Accordingly, should the concept of "radical" be determined or made concrete by the exploration of empirical cases?

For instance, what does it mean in Argentina? What are the collective representations and actions in this context that refer to this concept? What is the link with "radicality" in contemporary Latin America in general?

Drawing on an ethnography carried out within slums (villas miserias) in Buenos Aires and its periphery, this paper aims to empirically and theoretically determine the idea of "radical". It will show that, at the ideational level, "radicality" appears as a syncretism between an idealised past (a golden age) and a future reinvented by revolution, which necessarily determine the present, slum dwellers' existence.

Concretely, tutoring centres (centros de apoyo escolar) are one of the main centres of the manifestation of "the radical" in porteños slums. Alongside popular education influenced by different and sometimes converse pedagogical doctrines (liberal, Freirean) and provided for children in order to complement a lacunar public school system, they are one of the core places of slum dwellers' socio-political gatherings. Collective representations and actions are nurtured by diverse leftist political ideologies (Peronism, socialism, communism, Castroism, Bolivarism, Chavezism).