From Authoritarian Conventionalism to Performative Authoritarianism

An Analysis of the State’s Approach to the Human Right to Social Protest in Argentina

Abstract

This article examines the right to social protest in Argentina through a socio-legal critique of state approaches to social conflicts arising from human rights claims in contexts of increasing authoritarianism. As a paradigmatic case, and taking into account Argentina’s federal organization, the analysis focuses on the province of Jujuy, particularly in the framework of the 2023 reform of its provincial Constitution. Drawing on the political category of the “repressive laboratory,” the study seeks to characterize how local practices were mirrored and subsequently replicated in national state policies following the inauguration of Javier Milei in December 2023. The analysis is grounded in the analytical categories of critical criminology and employs a theoretical-methodological approach informed by legal anthropology and socio-legal studies. The findings reveal both similarities in the modalities of protest management and important discursive differences, especially regarding international human rights commitments. While at the local level these dynamics can be described as “authoritarian conventionalism,” at the national level a form of “performative authoritarianism” emerges, which not only disregards international obligations but also challenges the minimal democratic consensus concerning the exercise of the right to social protest.