Eduardo Elena. What The People Want: State Planning and Political Participation in Peronist Argentina, 1946 - 1955

What the People Want: State Planning and Political Participation in Peronist Argentina, 1946-
1955
Author(s): Eduardo Elena
Source: Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Feb., 2005), pp. 81-108
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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J. Lat. Amer. Stud 37, 8x-o8 zoo2005 CambridgeUniversity Press 81
DOI: io.xoi7/Soozzz6Xo400o8569 Printed in the United Kingdom
What the People Want: State Planning

and Political Participation in Peronist
Argentina, 1946-19 55
EDUARDO ELENA
Abstract.
Thisstudyexaminesan episodein the socialhistoryof stateplanningby
focusingon the 195 Peronistletterwritingcampaign. Per6n'srequestforpopular
to
suggestions the Second Five-YearPlan was met with enthusiasm frommenand
womenacrossArgentina. Aswithothercasesof stateplanning in thepostwarworld,
the Peronistmodelof plannedprogressinspiredmanypopularsectorindividuals
andorganisations,in partby offeringtheman intimatemodeof politicalpartici-
pationwithinan restrictive
increasingly order.Thisappealcannotbe attributed to
Peronistmass politicsalone;rather,the regime'sidealof macro-levelnational
planningalsoreinforced practicesof socialactivismin Argentine
pre-existing local
communities.
Zulema, a woman from the city of Santiagodel Estero, wrote to Juan

Domingo Per6n in 95i. Her letter recounted that shortly after Per6n
assumedthe presidencyin 1946, she had come acrossillustratedpamphlets
on the 'works' (obras) thatthe Peronistgovernmentintendedto accomplish.
She greetedthese proposalswith 'scepticalcuriosity'and showed them to
her boss, a 'sen-or who replied,'As a projectthis is beautiful,seforita,
espadol',
but it's a utopia,do you knowwhata utopiais ? Well,it's this,thatwhichone
dreams but doesn't achieve.' After six years of Peronist rule, however,
Zulemahad reacheda differentconclusion.In her lettershe outlineda series
of suggestionsfor the Peronistgovernment'supcomingSecond Five-Year
Plan, includingher opinions on nationaleconomic policy, labourrelations
andpublicworksprojects.'Todayhavinglearnedmy lesson', she told Per6n,
'I put before your considerationanother utopia as that se'or would say,
becauseI know thatyou have the power to makethem real."
EduardoElenais a lecturerat PrincetonUniversity.

* The authorwould like to
acknowledgethe JLASeditorsand the two anonymousreaders
for theirhelpfulrecommendations,as well as the assistanceof the ArchivoGeneralstaffin
Buenos Aires.Additionalthanksfor suggestionsand critiquesgo out to KristinRoth-Ey,
Todd Stevens,MeriClark,MichaelSpaeder,JeremyAdelmanand,especially,Ashli White.
1 Zulema describedherself as an 'empleada', althoughit is not clear whether she was a
domestic workeror another type of employee.Archivo Generalde la Nacion (AGN),
Colecci6n del Ministerio de Asuntos Tecnicos (MAT), Legajo 307, 13024. I have identified

82 EduardoElena
This woman was by no means alone in sharingher thoughts with the

Peronistpresident.She was joinedby tens of thousandsof men and women
who contactedthe Argentinegovernmentas partof an extraordinary letter-
writing campaign. On 3 December 1951 Per6n informed the public that
he would entertainsuggestionsfor the upcomingSecond Five-YearPlan,
the social and economic policy roadmapfor his second presidentialterm.
Underthe slogan'Per6nWantsto KnowWhatthe Pueblo Wants',the Peronist
regime called on the populace to mail in their requests and comments.
Zulema and her peers responded enthusiastically,sending approximately
42,000 pieces of correspondence(signed in many cases by multiplepet-
itioners)betweenlate 1951 and mid-i952. The men and women who took
partin this campaignrepresenteda wide cross-sectionof society:residents
of the BuenosAiresmetropolisandsmalltowns, farmhandsandhousewives,
unionisedworkersand white-collaremployees,individualsas well as neigh-
bourhood,labour,and partisanorganisations.Their letters offerinvaluable
insightsinto the ways popularsector Argentinesengagedwith the Peronist
planningstateand its utopiandreams.
This articleexaminesthe 'Per6nWantsto Know' campaignto shed new
light on the historyof Peronismand,more generally,on the historyof state
planningin the mid-twentiethcentury.There is, of course, no shortageof
scholarshipon Peronism.Classicworkshaveinvestigatedthe Peronistleader-
ship's abilityto forge allianceswith key social sectors (above all, organised
labour).Through a combinationof materialbenefits, mass politics, and a
powerfullanguageof social justice,Per6n's movementinspireda majority
of Argentina'spopularsectors, and at the same time, it alienateda sizable
minorityof the population.2Manyof these workshave looked at Peronism
from the perspectiveof leadersand institutions(mainlygovernment,media,
and labourunions).Historianshave emphasisedthe productionof Peronist
discoursesand policies over their receptionand adaptationby individuals,
in partbecauseof the notoriousdifficultyof accessingsourceson the 1946-
1955 period.
Withoutignoringthe asymmetriesof powerbetweenstateauthoritiesand
popularsector Argentines,this articledepartsfrom the 'top-down' meth-
odologyof manystudies.In particular, the essayinvestigateshow the Peronist
state's version of planned progress resonated with many working- and
middle-classArgentines,and in turn, how these actors came to identify
the authors of letters by their first name to protect their identity. In translating the letters
into English, I have also standardised the unconventional spelling and grammar used by
some petitioners.
2 For a useful overview of the historiography on Peronism, see Mariano Plotkin, 'The
Changing Perceptions of Peronism,' in James P. Brennan (ed.), Peronismand Argentina
(Wilmington, 1998), pp. 29-54.

StatePlanningandPolitical inPeronist
Participation Argentina, I946-I9y 83
personalgoalswith the state'spriorities.This approachemploysa fascinating
set of documents:the letters sent by Argentinesto Per6n's government.
Few scholars,even those who specialiseon Peronism,haveheardof the 19i5I
letter-writingcampaign.It was by no means the most centralpoliticalevent
of the Peronistera, palingin comparisonto the mass ralliesof the I-7thof
Octoberor the CabildoAbierto. Yet as this articleillustrates,the 'Per6nWants
to Know' campaigndidgenerategreatenthusiasmandexemplifieda popular
form of politicalparticipation.Equallyimportantly,this event- unlikethe
famous rallies- left behind written sources that can help us get beyond
the wall of Peronistpropagandaand censorship,revealingthe still poorly
understoodsocialhistoryof the period.3
The article focuses on a rich subset of correspondence- those letters
concerningpublicworks- to addressa centralquestion:why did Peronist
planninghave popularappeal?One obvious explanationfor the allureof
planningis that the letter-writerswere aware of the Peronist state's ac-
complishments.New publicworksprojects,amongthe mosttangibleevidence
of the planningstatein action,were constructedacrossArgentinaand were
the subjectof extensiveprint,radio,and filmpropaganda.The costs associ-
ated with participatingin the 'Per6n Wantsto Know' event were minimal,
and the potentialgain for petitionerswas great. However, this crude line
of argument- individualsneeded public works, so they asked for them-
assumesan alltoo easylinkbetweenthe perceptionof materialneedsand the
desireto enlistthe stateto meet them.It was not a given fact thatArgentines
would want to attractthe attentionof Peronist authorities;after all, ap-
proximatelyone-thirdof the voting public expressedits dislike of Per6n
duringthe i951 presidentialelections.By contrast,those who joinedin the
'Per6n Wants to Know' campaigndemonstrateda willingnessfor greater
state intervention,at least of a certainform, and they sought cooperation
with politicalrulersratherthanactiveor passiveresistance.
The significanceof participationin stateplanningbecomes evidentwhen
consideringnot just what the petitionersasked for, but also how they con-
structedtheir demands.To be sure, the letter-writers'self-representations
were shapedby the parametersof this epistolaryevent, and petitionersfell
into roles- the productiveworker, the meek supplicantand the dutiful
3
The letters examined in this article are drawn from the Ministry of Technical Affairs col-
lection at the Argentine Archivo General de la Naci6n. This body of government docu-
ments from Per6n's planning ministry was opened to the public only in the early 199os.
Historians of Latin America have made ample use of public correspondence, but popular
letter-writing has rarely been made the main subject of analysis. For letter-writing in other
populist regimes, see W. John Green, Gaitanismo,Left Liberalism,and PopularMobilizationin
Colombia(Gainsville, 20zoo3).Joel Wolfe, 'Father of the Poor or Mother of the Rich? Getulio
Vargas, Industrial Workers, and Constructions of Class, Gender, and Populism in Sio
Paulo, 1930-1954,' RadicalHistoryReview,vol.
58 (Winter 1994), pp. 80-iii.

84 Eduardo Elena
mother, among others - common to the genre of public letter-writingin this

period.4 Yet the letter-writers had much leeway in presenting their requests
for the new Plan Quinquenal.They chose to focus on certain aspects of
planning and mass politics that most appealed to them, while ignoring
others. The question here is not whether participation was truly heartfelt
or cynical - a tempting, but ultimately impossible issue to resolve given the
nature of the sources. Rather, this article investigates the more intriguing
problem of how letter-writers adopted strategies of self-representation that
both met the expectations of Peronist authorities and made sense within
their own lived experiences.
Finally, although the letter-writing campaign reflects the distinctiveness
of Peronism, the Argentine case has important implications for the wider
history of state planning. Planning formed a key component of what James
Scott has dubbed the 'high modernist' ideology of the mid-twentieth
century: the application of science, technology, and reason by state officials
to reorder society comprehensively.5 Peronism's goal of a autarchic 'New
Argentina' - as a familiar slogan went, a 'politically sovereign, socially just,
and economically independent nation'- was pursued along similar lines
across the globe. Scholars have most often compared Per6n to European
fascists like Franco or Mussolini, and indeed the Peronists also saw them-
selves as pursuing a nationalist third-waybetween the extremes of capitalism
and communism. But there were many other experiments with both state
planning and 'third-way' politics. Per6n can be placed alongside other
'Third-World' advocates of national planning such as Nehru, Sukarno,
Nkrumah, Kubitschek and Nasser to illuminate this important dimension of
twentieth-century history.6
Naturally, the scope and impact of statist modernity differed in each of
these cases, as did the means employed to implement planned progress. The
expansion of state planning was met with strong resistance from some
social quarters.Authoritarianismwas an integral feature of experiments with
high-modernist planning, and studies such as Scott's rightly draw attention
4 For an excellent analysis of the genres of public letter-writing, see Sheila Fitzpatrick,
'Supplicants and Citizens: Public Letter-Writing in Soviet Russia in the 1930s,' SlavicReview,
vol. 55, no. I (Spring 1996), pp. 78-105.
5 James C. Scott, SeeingLike A State:How CertainSchemes to Improvethe Human ConditionHave
Failed (New Haven, 1998), p. 4. Other key works on state planning include: Paul Rabinow,
FrenchModern:Norms and Formsof the SocialEnvironment(Cambridge, 1989). Gyan Prakash,
AnotherReason:Scienceand the Imaginationof ModernIndia (Princeton, I999). James Holston,
TheModernistCity:An Anthropological Critiqueof Brasilia(Chicago, 1989).
6 In addition to the
comparisons with European fascism, Peronism is most often analysed as
an example of Latin American populism. In this analysis, I avoid engaging at length with
this vast literature to explore new interpretive directions, but my approach to studying
planning and participation could apply to other classic populists (such as Cfirdenas or
Vargas) and even leftists such as Castro.

StatePlanning
andPolitical in Peronist
Participation Argentina,
1946-19J 85
to the coercive dimension of planning states. But as a consequence, these
works focus on the elites who crafted designs and controlled the action
of state bureaucracies, overlooking how even highly centralised planning
enjoyed a measure of popular support and redefined the very meanings of
participationin public life, albeit in illiberalways.' The tendency of historians
to look mainly (even obsessively) for resistance when confronted with
mobilising authoritarianism and state-led modernisation distorts our view.
As the 'Per6n Wants to Know' campaign illustrates, the social history of
planning in Argentina is also one of raised expectations, fervent enthusiasm,
and frustrated demands.
This article focuses on how planning as an expression of political power
created certain opportunities and effects - or to use a musical metaphor, how
the ideal of a New Argentina broadcast by Peronist authorities struck a chord
with popular sector individuals and local organisations. We begin with a brief
examination of planning within the context of Peronist mass politics from
the rise of Per6n in 1946 to the 195I letter-writing campaign.8The bulk of
the essay is devoted to a close reading of the letter-writers' demands, stra-
tegies of self-representation, and modes of participation. The discussion
concludes with a look at the aftermath of this event, including the responses
of officials and letter-writersin the years before Per6n's overthrow in 1955.
Peronistsandplanners
What was state planning in the Peronist era? Answering this deceptively
simple question is complicated in that 'planning' was many things at once
for the Peronist regime. At the most basic level, it represented a method
of organising central government through overarching plans that were
formulated and implemented by the political appointees and technical experts
in federal bureaucracies.Yet planning was also an integral part of Peronist
propaganda and its imagery of statist modernity. As with other twentieth-
century experiments in state planning, the lines separating policy from
propaganda and statecraft from mass politics were difficult to discern. Such
fluidity was especially pronounced in the Argentine case, as the Peronist
7 StephenKotkin'sworkon Stalinism offersa fruitfulmodelforconsidering thisdynamic.

StephenKotkin,Magnetic Mountain:Stalinism
as Civilization
(Berkeley,1995), pp. 22-3.
Withinthe fieldof LatinAmerican history,scholarsarereconsidering the intricacies
of
popularsupportfor and participation withinauthoritarian regimes.See, for example,
RichardLee Turits,Foundations ofDespotism: theTrujillo
Peasants, Regime, andModernityin
DominicanHistory(Stanford, z003).
8 Thearticlelimitsitselfto thenationalgovernment, placingasidethelargerissueof prov-
incialandmunicipal governments' planningefforts.In somecases,notablyBuenosAires
province,thegovernment mirrorednationalplanning withits own three-year plans.But
mostplanning activityandpropaganda wasconcentrated at thenationallevel.

86 Eduardo
Elena
regimeblurredthe boundariesthattraditionally separatedthe state,the party,
and the mediain an effortto establisha new politicalorder.Withinthis con-
text, the 'Per6n Wantsto Know' letter-writingcampaignwas one of many
initiativesdesignedto mobilisepopularsupport.
The first Five-YearPlan encapsulatedthe Peronist model of planned
progress.Designed by Per6n's residentpolicy expert,Jose Figuerola,the
Planwas presentedto Congressin October 1946.Figuerola'sproposalrep-
resented the culminationof intense wartimediscussionsover Argentina's
transitionto a postwarorderand a seriesof economicplansand emergency
packagesdrawnup since the early1930s, such as the PlanPinedo(I939). But
the Five-YearPlanproposeda farmorecomprehensivesocialand economic
reorganisationthan its predecessors.It covered a wide range of issues:
agriculturalandindustrialpolicy,publichealth,socialinsurance,housingand
public works construction,internationalrelations,and statefinances,among
others.9Despite its Soviet-soundingtide, the PlanQuinquenal was less a de-
tailed technicalblueprintthan a vague overviewof the government'snew
direction.The implementationof the Plandid not alwayslive up to its am-
bitiouspromisesof nationalreorganisation, andin practicethe planningstate
was far less organisedthan officialpronouncementssuggested.
The Peronist government'sversion of planningneverthelessmade its
impactfelt on Argentinesociety.'"The newlycreatedSecretariat of Technical
Affairs(whichlater became a Ministry)oversawthe Planand orchestrated
the variousbranchesof federalgovernment.Moreover,estimatesprovided
by the regimereveala steadygrowthin infrastructure and publicresources.
Millionsof Argentineswere incorporatedinto retirement,health,and social
assistanceprogrammes.New roads and bridgeswere constructed,and the
numberof personswith runningwaterand seweragegrew from 6.5 million
and 4 millionrespectively in 1942 to io million and 5.5 millionin 1955.11 In
ways largeand small,the lives of wage earnersand their householdswere
affectedby the forwardmarchof the New Argentina.
9 RepiiblicaArgentina,PlanQuinquenal delPresidentePerdn,i947-ip9y (BuenosAires,n.d.).

10 This elementof disorganisationand improvisationwas somewhatinevitablein lightof the
enormousgoals set forthby the Plan.Despite the regime'scorporatistpretensions,the lack
of experienceof the Peronisttop brass- a collectionof militaryofficers,ex-unionofficials,
and a handfulof dissidentindustrialists- added to these problems.Over time, Peronist
authoritiestook measuresto centralisepolicymaking.Gary W. Wynia,Argentinain the
Postwar:PoliticsandEconomic
Policymakingin a DividedSociey(Albuquerque,1978),pp. 43-80.
11 For overviews of the Per6n government'saccomplishmentson these fronts, see Juan
Carlos Torre and Eliza Pastoriza, 'La democratizaci6n del bienestar,' in Juan Carlos Torre
(ed.), Nueva historiaargentina:los aiosperonistas vol. 8 (Buenos Aires, 2002zooz),
p. 292.
(s943-195y),
Peter Ross, 'Justicia social: una evaluaci6n del los logros del peronismo clfisico,' Anuario
IEHS, vol. 8 (1993), pp. 10 5-24.

StatePlanning
andPolitical inPeronist
Participation Ip46-f19f 87
Argentina,
These projectswerepairedwith extensivecampaignsto raisepublicaware-
ness of the PlanQuinquenal. Pro-governmentnewspaperssuch as Democrada
carrieddaily reports on the achievementsof Peronist planning,and the
federalgovernmentdistributedthousandsof copies of the Plan for public
consumption.Peronistpropaganda-makers at the federalSubsecretariade
Informacioneslavishedattentionon descriptionsand visualrepresentations
of public works under construction.Newsreels and pamphletsprovided
similarimagesof a New Argentinain the making- of housingprojectsand
hospitalsunderconstruction,highwaysbeingpaved,andbureaucratshardat
work in new publicbuildings.Postersplasteredon walls across the country
offered alluringdepictions of how planned government and technology
were buildingthe nation.One such posterused the metaphorof a cauldron
of molten metal being pouredinto an Argentina-shaped mold to illustrate
the impact of the PlanQuinquenal: industrial-agetechnologywas forging
a new nation.12Peronistpropagandabalanceddepictionsof technological
efficiencywith remindersof Per6n'spersonalauthority.Propaganda-makers
presented the governmentnot as a cold scientific apparatus,but as an
extensionof Per6n and Evita'spersonalempathyfor the pueblo.The signs
posted outside the thousands of public works projects drove this point
home: noting that individualprojectswere part of the PlanQuinquenal, the
postersproclaimed the officialslogan,'Peron cumple'(Per6ndelivers).
To meet these objectives,the Peronist version of planningcombined
authoritarian techniqueswith measuresthat spoke to the needs and desires
of workingArgentines.Decision-makingpowerwas concentratedin Per6n,
his inner circle of advisors,and the officialsthat staffedexecutivebranch
agencies.Therewas littlepublicdeliberationin determiningthe prioritiesof
planning,and by I95I the legislativeand the judiciarybrancheshad lost
anysemblanceof autonomy.Peronistauthoritiescontrolleda chainof news-
papersand radiostationsthat disseminatedpropagandafar and wide, while
shuttingdown most mediaoutletson the ideologicalrightandleft thatdared
to criticisethem.Politicalopponentswereremovedfromtheirposts, thrown
in jail, harassedby the police, and forced into exile.13Yet in conjunction
with this repression,the Peronistplanningstate extendednew social and
public works programmes,wage increases,and workplaceprotectionsthat
boosted the materialqualityof life for many working-classhouseholds.
As historianDanielJames has suggested,Peronismexpandedthe horizons
of the sociallypossible for countless Argentines- challengingestablished
12 AGN, Departamentode Fotografia,Caja1307,Sobre

6z, 197326.
13
Studies of Peronism and the media include Alberto Ciria,Politicay cultura
popular:La
peronista,1946-gyy (Buenos Aires, 1983) and Pablo Sirven,Perdn
argentina y los mediosde
comunicacidn (Buenos Aires, 1984).
(s43-s9y)

88 EduardoElena
hierarchies, affirming claims to social citizenship, and emphasising their

membership in a more inclusive national community.14
This process had a crucial political dimension as well. Stripped of its
narrow technical meanings, the Plan became a key metaphor in the Peronist
leadership's attempts to consolidate rule. Per6n proclaimed his ideal of an
'Organised Community', in which the 'masses' would be integrated within
a hierarchy of work, party, and social institutions with himself - the
'Conductor'- at the apex.15Per6n's government transformed the meanings of
partisan participation, converting older forms (such as elections and rallies)
into mass ritualsthat showcased the regime's popularity and enabled millions
of supporters to express their Peronist sympathies.16This process required
creating new mechanisms to mobilise followers, including state alliances with
organised labour, the creation of the Peronist Party, and the formation of
new partisan institutions (most notably, local party cells known as 'unidades
.
bdsicas')
As the Peronistplanningstate expandedits sphereof influence,it added
new elementsto this mass politicalrepertoire.Public letter-writingwas an
importantexample.Correspondence withgovernmentofficialswas a familiar
featureof the Argentinepoliticaltraditionstretchingback to the colonial
period. The dramaticexpansionof literacyin the late-nineteenthcentury
madeletter-writing an accessiblemeansof interactingwithpoliticalauthority;
individualscontactedstate authoritiesin the hopes of securinggovernment
employmentand other favours,to denouncepoliticalenemies,or simplyto
expressopinions.With Per6n'srise to power,public letter-writingtook on
a massivescale- thanksnot only to highliteracyrates,but also to Per6nand
Evita'spopulist style, above all theirideal of empathetic,directcommuni-
cationwith 'the people.'17
The regime'sleaders took increasinglyambitioussteps to harness the
politicalpotentialof letter-writing.From the earliestdays of Per6n'spresi-
dency, state agencieswere flooded with correspondenceof all types, and
14James has arguedconvincinglythat Peronism
representeda 'crediblevision' of social
changefor working-classArgentines.Applyingthis idea to the context of planning,new
socialprogrammesandlegalmeasureshelpedto groundthe lofty promisesof stateleaders.
At the same time, the expansivenessof Per6n'splanningdiscourseinfused these myriad
reformswith a unifying,utopianquality.DanielJames,Resistance andIntegration:
Peronism and
theArgentine Working Class,1946-1976(Cambridge,1988),pp. 7-40.
15 Juan
Domingo Per6n, Conduccidn Politica(BuenosAires, 195 2), pp. 240.
16 Mariano
Plotkin, Mananaes SanPiron:propaganda, ritualespoliticosy educacionen el regimen
peronista(s946-i9,r)(Buenos Aires, 1993). Daniel James, 'October i7th and i8th, 1945:
MassProtest,Peronism,and the ArgentineWorkingClass,'Journal ofSocialHistory,vol. 21
(Spring1988),pp. 44I-6I. Juan CarlosTorre (ed.),El _94_
7 de Octubre de (BuenosAires,
1995).
17 National literacy rates were near 90 per cent by the 1950os. Torre and Pastoriza, 'La
democratizaci6n del bienestar,' pp. 296-7.

Participation Argentina,1946-19I 89
Eva Per6n soon became the target for petitioners requestingpersonal
assistance.If official estimates are even somewhat reliable,the scale of
publicletter-writingin PeronistArgentinawas enormous;accordingto the
recollectionsof her assistants,Evita alone receivedten to twelve thousand
letterseachday.18Even with the tendencytowardexaggeration,it seemslikely
that hundredsof thousands,if not millions,of Argentinespennedlettersto
Peronistauthoritiesin the 1946-1955 period.Withinthis context,the 'Per6n
Wants to Know' event representedthe regime'smost concerted attempt
at organisingletter-writing.19Althoughwriterswere instructedto mail their
suggestions to the Direcci6n Nacional de Planificaci6n,the propaganda
campaignemphasisedPer6n'spersonalinvolvement,implyingthathe would
be the final arbiterof all planningdecisions.20The problemof how these
letterswould shape state planningwas left convenientlyvague, as was the
issue of who would actuallyreadthe letters.
The 'Per6n Wants to Know' letters thus highlightthe challengeswith
analyzingpoliticalparticipationin authoritarian contexts.Clearly,the terms
of participationwere set by Peronistauthorities.Petitionersdispleasedwith
state responses to their demandshad few ways to hold Peronist officials
accountable.But Per6n's call for planningsuggestionswas not necessarily
experienced as top-down mobilisation by the letter-writersthemselves.
Participationwas, afterall, voluntary;federalofficialsdid theirbest to elim-
inate politicalalternativesand control the media,but individualswere not
coercedto writelettersto Per6n.Moreover,the methodof communication
offeredby letter-writingdifferedqualitativelyfrom other types of Peronist
participation.Ratherthancastingtheirvotes anonymouslyor cheeringfrom
the crowd, petitionerscould convey their thoughts and sentimentsto the
Conductorand his agencieson personal,even intimateterms.In theirletters
they could informPer6n about the conditionsof everydaylife in theirlocal
18 Estela de los Santos, Las mujeresperonistas

(Buenos Aires, 1983), p. 35; Nicholas Fraser and
Marysa Navarro, Evita: TheRealLife of Eva Peren(New York, 1996), p. I17.
19 The exact inspiration behind this campaign is unknown. Certainly,no government leader in
Argentine history had asked for popular input in this fashion. Yet the world of mass culture
suggests a precedent. Argentines in the 193os and 1940S participated in frequent write-in
contests organised by radio stations and magazines, which generated thousands of pieces
of correspondence and a flurry of media attention. There is some resemblance between
these events and the 'Per6n Wants to Know' campaign, and Peronist propaganda-makers
at the Subsecretaria de Informaciones, including its director Ra2dApold, had backgrounds
in private radio, film, and the press. Hugo Gambini, Historia delperonismo:elpoder total
(1943-I9yz), vol. I (Buenos Aires, 1999), pp. 403-21. For an account of radio in this period,
see Carlos Ulanovsky, et al. Dias de radio:historiade la radioargentina(Buenos Aires, i995),
pp. Iz 1-76.
20 In his radio broadcast, Per6n noted that additional 'technical commissions' were collecting
the input of provincial and municipal governments, private organisations and labour
unions. La NadCidn, 4 Dec. 1951, p. i.

90 Eduardo
Elena
communities and how these did - or did not - match up with the regime's
promises. This method of political engagement strengthened the bonds of
partisan solidarity uniting leaders and followers in Per6n's Argentina, but
not without some degree of friction in reconciling the goals of mass political
management and the satisfaction of grassroots demands.
Buildinga newArgentina
The 'Per6n Wants to Know' letters describe the scenarios faced by popular
sector Argentines in their daily lives - urban neighbourhoods without sewers
or schools, rural villages without electricity, running water, or other public
services. These seemingly ordinary demands, all too familiarto observers of
Latin American societies, took on increased political significance in Peronist
Argentina. In the most abstract terms, the letter-writers focused on the
spatial consequences of Argentina's uneven socio-economic development.
'Urbanizacidn'was a keyword invoked repeatedly by letter-writers, a term
that encapsulated a spectrum of desires for improvements in the material
conditions of life and social aspirations. Although petitioners concentrated
on the specific problems of their localities, their letters suggest an under-
standing of the importance of national planning to their quotidian lives, and
the letter-writerslooked to Peronist planners for solutions to local dilemmas
of 'urbanisation'.21
The 'Per6n Wants to Know' event occurred at a crucial conjuncture
in Peronist rule that shaped the demands posed by letter-writers. On Ii
November 1951 Per6n was re-elected to a second presidential term with
nearly 63 per cent of the total votes. This victory had been preceded by
months of electioneering that culminated in the largest mass rally of this
period, the famed CabildoAbierto.Despite the president's popularity at the
polls, all was not well. Growing economic problems cast dark clouds over
the nation's future and, by extension, the viability of Per6n's regime. Argen-
tina's economy, which had soared to annual growth rates of 8.5 per cent
21 The urbanisation
demandsraised can be thoughtof as a formof
by the letter-writers
outsidethe morefamiliarelectoralarena.PoliticalscientistsJohn
politicalparticipation
BoothandMitchellSeligsondefinepoliticalparticipation broadlyas 'behavior
influencing
or attemptingto influencethedistributionof publicgoods',andtheyprovidetheexample
of ruralcommunities thatpetitiongovernments forroadimprovements. According to the
authors,theseinteractions areparticularlynoteworthy in nationsthathaveboth wide-
spreadsocio-economic inequalityand that have experienced frequentshiftsbetween
democratic andauthoritarian limitsof par-
rule.Thisdefinitionstretchesthe conceptual
ticipation perhaps too far, but it does highlight the fact that letter-writing in Peronist
Argentina had points in contact with social practices across the region. John A. Booth and
Mitchell Seligson (eds.), PoliticalParticjpationin Latin America, vol. I (New York, 1978),
pp. 6-7.

StatePlanning
Participation 1946-I9y 9
Argentina,
duringthe 1946-1948boom, languishedbetween1949and 1951, threatening
the living standardsof working-classArgentines.Behindthe scenes Per6n's
economic advisorswere busy drawingup a series of austeritymeasuresto
tame inflation and control wage increases.22No doubt the letter-writing
campaigntried to turn attentionaway from these economic anxietiesand
to extend the election'scelebratorymood. In his 3 December 951 speech,
Per6n ignoredthe economic situationand praisedinsteadthe achievements
of the first Five-YearPlan, arguingthat the governmenthad surpassedits
goals by completingover 76,000 new projects.The next plan would 'con-
solidate[thenation's]greatnessand securethe happinessthatthepueblonow
possesses' by improvingliving conditions,especiallyoutside major urban
centres.23
Per6n's call did indeed generatean outpouringof popularsuggestions.
I estimatethat a majorityof the writersrequestedpublicworks projectsof
one varietyor another.These included the constructionof infrastructure
(such as roads and electricalpower lines), government-runservices(public
offices, schools and housing), and sanitation or health-relatedprojects
(sewersand clinics).For the purposesof this article,the lettersclassifiedas
concerning'public works in general' and 'sanitaryworks' are the most
pertinent.('Publicworksin general'is by farthe singlelargestcategory,and
togetherthese two subsets representsome 27 per cent of the total 'Per6n
Wants to Know' lettersin the archive.)24 Letterson these subjectsarrived
from acrossArgentinain a patternthatbroadlyreflectedthe nationaldistri-
bution of population.The city of Buenos Aires had fewer petitionersthan
its shareof population,while the suburbsof greaterBuenos Aires had pro-
portionallymore- a disparityexplainedperhapsby the betterinfrastructure
in the centraldistrictsof the city comparedto outlyingneighbourhoods
(see Table i). Approximately45 per cent of the letterswere submittedby
individualsand 55 per cent by organisations.These includedgroups with
clear Peronist associations(unidades pro-regimelabour unions and
baisicas,
governmentofficials)as well as less overtlypartisancivilactors(seeTable 2).
The lines between these individualand group categorieswere vague, as
individualsoften submitted one letter with signatures from scores of
22 Pablo Gerchunoffand Lucas un siglodepoliticas

y el desencanto:
Llach,El diclode la ilusion
econdmicas
argentinas(Buenos Aires, 1998), pp. 2o8-I I.
23 La
Nacidn, 4 Dec. 1951, p. i.
24 These estimatesare based on the
categoriesused by the NationalArchiveto classifythe
correspondence.My sense is that the basic geographicdistributionand identityof the
or
petitionersholds truewith some variationfor other issue categories(such as 'vivienda'
'educacidn').All the letters examined in this paper arrived to the Ministry of Technical
Affairs between December and March 1952. Archivo General de la Naci6n, Fondo
1951
del TenienteGeneralJuanDomingoPerdn
DocumentalSecretariaTicnicaIy 2 Presidendcia
(I936-9yy)
(Buenos Aires, 1995).

92 EduardoElena
Table i. Geographical ofLetter-writers

Distribution
Percentage of Percentage of
City, Province, or Total Letters National
Territory (N = 490) Population
Greater Buenos 21.6 11.3
Aires (GBA)
Buenos Aires 17.1 15.5
Province
(excluding GBA)
C6rdoba 11.0 9.4
Santa Fe 8.4 10.7
Buenos Aires city 8.2 18.8
Santiago del Estero 4.7 3
Tucumin 3.7 3.7
Mendoza 3.5 3.7
Entre Rios 2.9 5.0
El Chaco 2.5 2.7
Other Locales i6.2z 6.3
Note: These calculations are based on a random cluster sample of boxes identified by the
AGN as pertaining to 'obraspuiblicas'and 'obras sanitarias'.National population figures are
taken from: Presidencia de la Naci6n, CuartoCensoGeneralde la Nadion,vol. I (Buenos Aires,
1947). Greater Buenos Aires is defined as the 25 partidosin Buenos Aires province surrounding
the city of Buenos Aires, see Margarita Gutman and Jorge Enrique Hardoy, BuenosAires:
Historia urbanade la areametropolitana
(Madrid, 1992), p. 270o.
Table 2. Identity
ofLetter-writers
Percentage of Letters
Petitioner In Sample (N = 490)
Man 39.3
Woman 5.9
Sociedadde Fomento 17.4
Labour Union 13.9
Civil Organisation 10.4
UnidadBdsicaor 8.0
Peronist Organisation
Local Government 4-3
Other/Unknown 0.4
Note: The author of each letter was identified as the main signer of the document; in many
cases an individual petitioner also attached the signatures of neighbours and organisations.
'Sociedadde Fomento'includes petitioners who identified themselves as neighbourhood com-
missions. 'Civil Organisations' are mutual aid societies, sports and social clubs, newspapers,
libraries, churches, cooperatives, and other collective actors. 'UnidadesBdsicas'include both
female and male branches. 'Peronist Organisation' refers to official party institutions as well
as unofficial associations of Peronist supporters.
community members, and multiple organisations signed the same letter.

Likewise, determining the number of male and female petitioners is com-
plicated by the fact that some letters were signed by members of both sexes.

StatePlanning in Peronist
andPoliticalParticipation Argentina,
1946-19ff 93
The 'publicworks'petitionersdrewattention,aboveall, to deficienciesof
communalresources.They privilegedproblemsof collectiveconsumption
over personalones (suchas the requestsfor employment,medicalassistance,
andindividualfavors)discussedin lettersto Evita.25Theselettersweresome-
times quite specific (requestingthe pavingof one block on a dirt road, for
instance);or theywere less exact,enumeratingseveralpublicworksprojects
that would benefit an entire town or neighbourhood.In some cases, pet-
itioners arguedin favour of a specific collective good in terms of their
individualhouseholdneeds. A paved road,for example,would allow family
membersto attendschool or seek employmentfurtherafield.Other letter-
writersadoptedthe mantleof communitypromotersand highlightedhow
public works would uplift their barrioor town. Local governmentsand
privateutilitycompanieswere blamedfor not providingadequateservices.
For the majorityof letter-writers,the implicit assumptionwas that the
Peronistcentralstate could and should counteractgovernmentand private
sectorinaction.
This emphasison improvementthough public works runs throughout
the letterssent by the singlelargestgroup of letter-writers:the residentsof
Buenos Aires'ssuburbs.Suburbanitesdescribedthe negativeconsequences
of the rapidgrowthof metropolitanBuenos Aires, spurredby the concen-
tration of factory and government jobs that attractedcity dwellers and
provincialmigrants.26MariaP., a woman from a working-classbarrioin
Lomasde Zamora,recountedthe dailyordealsof her neighbourhood,where
frequentfloodingturneddirtstreetsinto muddypools so deep thatresidents
were trappedat home duringrainstorms.When weatherpermitted,Maria
and her familymemberswalkedthirtyblocksto reachthe closest bus stop.27
In general,suburbanletter-writerscalledon Per6n'sgovernmentfor better
roads,transportation, and utilitiesthat would, as one petitionerput it, 'per-
fect the farawaybarrios of the metropolis'.28
But these problemswere not just a GreaterBuenos Aires phenomenon.
Residentsin provincialcities(suchas Rosario)andtheirsuburbsexperienced
similarchallengesof patchyurbanisationandpublicservices.Letterspoured
in fromprovincialtowns andruralcommunitiesthatfacedcomparable,if not
worse,infrastructure woes. In poorerprovinceslocatedfar from the centres
25 For a classic
analysis of the links between collective consumption and grassroots political
action, see Manuel Castells, City, Class, and Power (New York, 1978). For the politics of
collective consumption in Argentina, see James Baer, 'Buenos Aires: Housing Reform and
the Decline of the Liberal State in Argentina,' in Ronn Pineo and James Baer (eds.), Citiesof
andProgress
Hope:People,Projects, in UrbaniZng LatinAmerica,1870-I93o (Boulder,1998).
26 By the mid-1940s nearly30 per cent of all Argentineslived in the city and its environs.
MargaritaGutman and Jorge Enrique Hardoy, BuenosAires: historiaurbanade la area
(Madrid,1992).
metropolitana 27 AGN-MAT,Legajo214, 8921.
28 AGN-MAT,Legajo20zo5, 6401.

94 EduardoElena
of Peronist prosperity, petitioners faced additional challenges, including the
dearth of stable, year-round employment and access to basic social pro-
grammes. Ernesto, a resident of the small town of Chamical, La Rioja made
demands that ran the gamut of the Five-Year Plan: public housing, paved
roads, new school and local government buildings, a health centre, and the
construction of a dike.29 These sorts of rural petitioners imagined the
Peronist planning state as a force that could transform their dusty villages
into modern communities complete with thriving factories and government
services for all.30
It is important to note that the petitioners were concerned mainly with
local public works, either singly or in conjunction with other infrastructure
improvements, rather than a national programme of massive projects. In
part, this focus on a series of public works was in keeping with the Peronist
government's own approach. The Peronist central state did not focus its
resources on a single flagship project as in other cases of high-modernist
planning, such as the Aswan Dam or Brasilia."3This tendency was the result
of various factors: the initial disorganisation of Peronist governments (in-
cluding at the provincial and municipal levels), mounting financiallimitations
by the late 1940s, the use of public works as a means to distribute patronage
locally, and the sheer diversity of socio-economic issues addressed under the
Peronist banner of planning.
Whether they lived in rural,suburban, or urban settings, the 'Per6n Wants
to Know' petitioners made the connection between specific local problems
and national solutions. In practice, this often meant elevating living con-
ditions across the country to the levels attainedin Argentine cities - above all,
Buenos Aires's better districts. The radio and other mass media played a
crucialrole in disseminatinginformation about the 'social conquests' of urban,
industrial workers and in shortening distances between the central govern-
ment in Buenos Aires and populations in the Interior. Writers repeatedly
29
AGN-MAT, Legajo 12, 8082.
30 In their enthusiasm for planning, popular sector letter-writers shared points in common
with more elite provincial groups. As James Brennan has shown, certain factions of in-
dustrialists and businessmen from the Interior - especially those from less developed
provinces outside the Littoral region - also saw the Peronist state as an ally in decen-
tralising industrialisation and commercial activity. James P. Brennan, 'Industrialists and
Bolicheros: Business and the Peronist Populist Alliance, 1943-1973,' in Peronismand
Argentina,pp. 79-124.
31 There are two notable exceptions: the reconstruction of San Juan city after the 1944
earthquake (which became bogged down with internal disputes) and a cluster of projects in
the Buenos Aires suburb of Ezeiza (including an airport, highway, and housing projects).
Mark Alan Healey, 'The Ruins of the New Argentina: Peronism, Architecture, and the
Remaking of San Juan After the 1944 Earthquake,' unpubl. PhD diss., Duke University,
zooo;AnahiBallent,'Arquitectura Anuario
y ciudadcomoestticasde la politica,' IEHS,
vol. 8 (3993),PP. 7 5-98.

StatePlanning
Participation Argentina, If46-i9py 95
noted in theirlettersthat they were respondingto the call for popularinput
made over the airwaves- what one small-townsports club called Per6n's
'patrioticradioexhortation'.32 Althoughpetitionersdid not wish to recreate
BuenosAires in toto,the big city'samenities,services,and materialcomforts
remainedthe standard.When given the opportunityto shape planning
priorities,petitionersimaginedtheirfuturelargelyin steel and concrete.
TheallureofPeronismandprogress
The 'Per6n Wants to Know' letters open a window into the everyday
problemsthatpreoccupiedArgentina'spopularsectors.But letter-writers did
not simplyenumeratetheirrequests;they providedtheirown explanations
of why Peronistplanningwas a necessaryand welcome form of stateinter-
vention. Clearly,this commentarywas shapedby the genre of publicletter-
writingand the petitioners'ideas of what officialswould want to hear.To
acknowledgethis strategicdimension of letter-writingdoes not, however,
detractfrom the testimonialvalue of these documents,and above all, their
perspectiveon how Argentinesreflectedon theirlives underPeronistrule.
The 'Per6n Wantsto Know' lettersoffer two main insightsinto why state
planningresonatedwith Argentina'spopularsectors.First,the lettersreveal
the inroadsmade by the regimein creatingnew politicalloyaltiesand op-
portunitiesfor partisanparticipationunderthe bannerof plannedprogress.
Yet partisanshipalone does not explain the popular enthusiasmfor the
'Per6n Wantsto Know' campaign.Stateplanningeliciteda strong,positive
response from civil organisationsbecause it intersectedwith traditional
communityandneighbourhoodactivism.The 195I campaignillustrateshow
planning'sappealderivedfrom the novel impact of Peronistmass politics
and, simultaneously, how it found points in commonwith pre-existinglocal
practices.
For manyof those who took partin the letter-writingcampaign,putting
pen to paperwas more thanthe prosaicact of sendinga requestto a distant
bureaucrat.It representeddirectcommunicationwith Per6nhimself.Critics
of Peronistrule may have looked upon this exchangebetween the 'pueblo'
and Per6n as farcicaldemagoguery.But many letter-writersexpressed a
mixtureof joy and awe that the governmentwas willingto entertaintheir
suggestions.In the wordsof a petitionerfromgreaterBuenosAires,'before
it was only in dreamsthat one could imaginethat a simple residentof a
lost place could ask somethingof the National Government'.33A corre-
spondentfromSantaFe city sent a handwrittenletterto the presidentasking
for running water for her barrio.Spurred by the combination of municipal
32 * "
AGN-MAT, Legajo 360, 9046. AGN-MAT, Legajo 2, 7958.

96 Elena
Eduardo
government inaction and Per6n's radio address, she proclaimed with
religiousfervour,'it's a sacrificethat we have kept quiet becausewe have
no one to complainto here ... it's like preachingin the desert.ThankGod
we have you and that you gave us the order to present our complaints.'34
It was common for writersto addresstheirlettersto 'Your Excellency'or
'Mi General'. Even those lettersaddressedto the Ministryof TechnicalAffairs
sometimesclosedwith expressionsof good will towardsthe nation'sleading
couple,or as one malepetitionerstated,the 'GreatGeneralConductor, Per6n'
and the 'AlmaMaterof the humbleborn, Eva Per6n'.35
Such languageshows that some of the popular enthusiasmfor state
planningis attributableto its close associationwith the personaeof Juanand
Eva.This illusionof personalcontactwith the Conductor was exactlywhatthe
'Per6n Wantsto Know' campaignsought to achieve.In general,the letters
reveal the regime's success in broadcastingits ideal of political power.
This mergingof personalistpolitics and state planningmay seem contra-
dictory- indeed,the co-existenceof the impassionedPeronistcult of leader-
ship and the paradigmof rational,bureaucraticplanningmay strikeone as
baffling.But that blendwas common to otherhistoricalexperiencesof state
planning,includinginterwarEurope and Third World nationalism.In the
Argentinecase at least,the fact thata vigorous,smilingleaderwas in charge
of the complex machineryof governmentreassuredsome petitioners,tap-
ping as well into longstandingpoliticaltraditionsof patron-clientrelations.
Letter-writersmight not be able or care to understandthe technicaldetails
of planning,but theycouldconfidein the personalauthorityofJuan andEva
to remedytheirneeds in a just manner.In some cases, supplicationverged
on passivity,as petitionerslooked to the miraculousinterventionof Per6nto
transformtheirruraltowns or suburbanbarrios.
Not all petitioners,however,waitedfor salvationfrom the Conductor. The
'Per6n Wants to Know' letters also show clearlythat ordinaryArgentines
sought theirown solutionsto local problemsand capitalisedon the oppor-
tunitiesofferedby Peroniststate planning.Given the extensivepropaganda
depictingthe Argentinepopulationas generouslycared for by the central
state, it is initiallysurprisingto find letter-writerscommenting on their
own strugglesfor communityimprovement.Yet the 'Per6nWantsto Know'
letters contain countless demands made by individualsand organisations
with activistexperienceat the grassroots.Petitionersincluded sports and
social clubs, mutualaid societies, religiousgroups, and sociedades defomento.
These latter associations were common in working- and middle-class
neighbourhoodsand served as focal points for activism:buildinglibraries
and social centres, resolving local disputes, functioning as local boosters,
34 AGN-MAT, Legajo 79, I0986. 35 AGN-MAT, Legajo 49, 5896.

Participation i946-;9yy 97
Argentina,
and lobbying government officials for new roads, sewers, and other
infrastructure - or in some cases, collecting funds to complete these
projects themselves. Like theirpeers elsewherein LatinAmerica,men and

women of the popularsectorselaboratedinstitutionsfor communitydevel-
opment that becamean integralfeatureof Argentinecivil society.
Many advocatesof fomentismo saw the Peronistplanningstate as an ally
in furtheringtheirgoals of local uplift.Take for examplea lettersent by the
SociedaddeFomento 'Villa Spinola'of ValentinAlsinain the northernsuburbs
of greaterBuenos Aires.36Similarto other petitioners,the Villa Spinola
organisationdescribedthe dailychallengesfaced by residents:one-thirdof
the neighbourhoodwas withoutrunningwater,and unpavedroads flooded
duringrains.Becauseof the deep mud, residentswere even forced to use
cartsto transportcorpses out of the barrio - a 'situationthat is profoundly
hurtfuland incrediblein the twentiethcentury.'The sociedad outlined the
effortsthey had takento improvematters,includingcreatinga sports field
and buildinga makeshiftschoolhouse and small librarywith funds from
member dues ('as an example of culturewithin the Villa'). Their letter
recountedthat the sociedad had contactedgovernmentagenciesrepeatedly
since the 1920s for assistance,but to no avail.Thanks to the 'NuevoPlan
Quinquenal', however, the situationhad radicallychanged, and the letter
proclaimedgratefully,'Today your excellency offers us this magnificent
opportunity,we cannot but become happy and proud of this magnificent
exampleof pure democracythat you have offeredus.'"'This conceptionof
Peronismas a new erawas integralto the regime'spropagandaabout plan-
ning, but the letters suggest how popularorganisationsadaptedthis trope
to theirown understandingsof respectabilityand communityactivism.The
VillaSpinolasociedad arguedthat,as a resultof theirsacrificesandtheirstatus
as workers in Per6n's 'democratic'Argentina,they merited having their
proposal form part of the next Five-YearPlan. 'We believe', the sociedad
concluded,'that the realisationof the projectsthat we presentbefore you
shouldreachtheirfruitionas a prizeto our anonymous,self-denyingfighters
From this perspective,Peronistplanningappearedas a con-
[luchadores].'38
tinuationon a nationalscale of the self-helpeffortsundertakenby the resi-
dents of popularbarrios.
There were, in fact, significantparallelsin how state officialsand civil
organisationsapproachedproblemsof the built environmentand publicre-
sources.For some letter-writers,the organisationof the Peronistgovernment
3"AGN-MAT,Legajoi 2, 8664.It is importantto note thatthe term'villa'in this timeperiod

but rathera neighbourhoodof
did not necessarilyrefer to a shanty-townor villamiseria,
recent settlement.In some cases petitioners made reference to buying plots of land
throughrealestateagents,suggestingthatvillaresidentswere not primarilysquatters.
37Ibid. 38 Ibid

98 Eduardo Elena
aroundplanningwas key: as one group from Rosario argued,'it is very
noteworthythat the realisationof these works will obey a plan, that is de-
liberatelythoughtout and that considersthe needs of the entireArgentine
pueblo,especiallythe most poor.'39National-levelplanningmay have ap-
pealedto petitionersbecausethey employedsimilartools, such as plansand
maps in theirlocal efforts.Fomento organisations(includingthe VillaSpinola
sociedad)frequently attached to their letters detaileddiagramsand sketches
of theirblocks,neighbourhoods,andtowns.Althoughthesemapswereoften
hand-drawnand rudimentary,others were architecturaland engineering
blueprints,which indicatedthe preciseplacementof proposed sewers and
roads.Someletter-writers includedadditionalmaterials,such as photographs
and reports.40Throughoutthe 1946-1955 period, citizens submittedtheir
own comprehensiveplans to the Ministryof TechnicalAffairs- sometimes
highly technicalor legal proposalsthat dealt with agriculture,housing, or
some other facet of state planning.41'Planning',in this more expansive
sense, can be viewed as a widespread practice among popular sector
Argentines,one that was not necessarilyconfinedto a coterieof expertsin
centralbureaucracies.
In addition to extolling the virtues of planning,local activists used a
familiarlanguageof 'progress'to describetheiractions.Writersoccasionally
appendedthe adjective'progresista' to describetheir towns and neighbour-
hoods, as in the case of a union from the 'progressive'town of Pascanas,
C6rdoba.42In these cases, progresswas definedin termsof improvements
to the built environmentand local organising.One self-described'neigh-
bourhood commission' from Villa Argerichin Lands, underscoredthe
advantagesof 'urbanisingthe denselypopulatedworker barrios'. Not only
would Per6n'sgovernmentdisplayits superiorityover pastpoliticalregimes,
but road constructionwould furtherthese communities''adelantoedilicio'
(literally,advancementof building).43Peronistplannersand these popular
actorsshareda similarfaithin the powerof nationalorganisationto createa
more modernnation.While both groups reliedupon the same vocabulary
and metaphorsof nation-building,the letters suggestthatfomentista groups
and theirpeers also definedprogressin the specifictermsand geographyof
theirlocalities.44
39 AGN-MAT, Legajo205, II1622. 40 AGN-MAT, Legajo205, 10134-

41 BeatrizSarlohas examinedthe fascinationof mass readingaudienceswith popularscience
andtechnologicalsubjectsin interwarArgentina.These culturalinfluencesalso mayexplain
the interestof some petitionerswith the technicalaspectsof planningunderPer6n.Beatriz
Sarlo,La imaginacidn suefosmodernos
tecnica: dela cultura (BuenosAires,1992).
argentina
42 AGN-MAT,Legajo36, 8081. 43 AGN-MAT,Legajo214, 17201.
44 It is noteworthy that this overlapping of local strategies for improvement and the Peronist
version of national planning was not a conscious design ofPer6n's regime. In terms of public
works, Per6n rarely acknowledged the efforts of neighbourhood and civil organisations.

StatePlanning
Participation I946-i9fy 99
Argentina,
It bears stressing that involvement in community activism was not
restrictedto sociedadesdefomento or other civil organisationswithout a clear
partisanidentity. For manypetitioners,letter-writingwas but one aspectof
theirdevotion to the Peronistmovement.Thejusticalista regimemadegreat
inroads reorganisingsociety since Per6n electionin 1946, and hundreds
in
of unidadesbisicas,pro-regimelabour unions, and self-describedPeronist
sympathisergroupstook partin the letter-writingcampaign,manyof them
in places far from majorpopulationcentres.45From the vantagepoint of
the regime'sleadership,these mediatinginstitutionsprovideda mechanism
to mobilise followers,attractnew converts,and reinforceexistingPeronist
loyalties.From the perspectiveof their members,unidades offereda
baisicas
channel to communicatelocal claims to the state, and unions helped to
direct local planningsuggestionsto federalagencies.Within the limits of
Peronistrule,these institutionsopened up the possibilityof participationin
civic life to a larger segment of the population,includingworking and
middle-classwomen who became protagonistsin local politics and social
assistancethroughfemaleunidades basicas.In the process,older traditionsof
were
fomentismo reconfigured within the new institutionsof Peronist mass
politics.
In theirletters,membersof partisanorganisationspresentedthemselves
as proud collaboratorswith the Peronistmovement.Like many other pet-
itioners,the Centro de Acci6n Social y CulturalJuan Domingo Per6n in
the provinceof Entre Rios capturedthis sentimentin militarytermsin the
closingline of theirrequestfor potablewater,an industrialschool, andpublic
works: 'we have the satisfactionof expressingonce more our unbreakable
statusas soldiersof yourgreatcause,as is the Peronistcause,of whichYour
Excellencyis the majestic conductor, illuminatingall of us with your un-
extinguishabletorch of patrioticand humanistfervour'.46Some of these
letter-writersalso identifieddirectlywith the regime'sfuturisticvision of
progress,in which Peronistplannerswould deploy state bureaucraciesand
bulldozersto createa better society.A letter from a union in C6lon, Santa
Fe - requestinga clinic,roads,and publichousing for their town - evoked
the poetics of modernisationfeaturedin Peronistpropaganda:'We feel that
There was no concerted national effort to include sociedadesdefomentowithin the official

framework of the Peronist movement. In this regard, the contrast with labour unions is
important.
45 Accordingto official Peronist estimates,approximatelyhalf of the economicallyactive
populationwas unionisedby the earlyi95os, up from just 20oper cent a decade before.
Unidades Baisicaswere divided into male and female branches, under the command
respectively of the Partido Peronista and the Partido Peronista Femenino. Louise Doyon,
del
'El creciminento sindical bajo el Peronismo,' in Juan Carlos Torre (ed.), Laformacidon
sindicalismoperonista (Buenos Aires, 1988), pp. 174-5-. 46 AGN-MAT Legajo 12, 8637.

00oo Eduardo
Elena
the realisation of these projects will be another segment [jalon] added to the
luminous road of the New Argentina's progress, whose direction is guided by
its creator and forger, General Juan D. Per6n.'47
In carrying out their partisan duty, letter-writers drew attention to the
entitlement that they felt as Peronists. They often painted poignant scenes
that expressed their newfound sense of empowerment in Per6n's Argentina,
in some cases contrasting their faith in the Peronist cause with the apathy
of others to the everyday problems faced by working Argentines. Maria
del C., a resident of a working-class suburb in greater Buenos Aires, com-
plained in her handwritten letter about the neglect that her 'sad and desolate
villa' had endured for decades. Even now, she lamented, some did not
think that 'authentic workers' deserved more than muddy roads and poor
public services. In a phrase that echoed the regime's discourse of social
justice and working-class pride, Maria proclaimed 'somos dignosde calles
asfaltadas'.48But feelings of entitlement could sometimes take on a critical
edge, as the promises made in the Five-Year Plans and their propaganda
outstripped the central government's ability to meet them. The Peronist
Party office of Caseres, Santiago del Estero stated matter-of-factly that
'for years this humble town has been forgotten'. Now that 'the Federal
Capital and other Provinces have received some benefits of the first Plan
Quinquenal',the petitioners felt that it was their turn to enjoy the benefits
of the New Argentina. These expressions reveal the success of the regime's
ideal of social progress in shaping the political worldview of popular sector
Argentines, as well as the expectations raised by central planning.
This impact was not limited to partisan diehards alone. The 'Per6n Wants
to Know' letters show that the lines separating partisan and non-partisan
groups were not always easy to discern in local communities. Sociedades de
fomentopraised the virtues of Per6n in their letters, and Peronist party groups
pressed for improvements to collective consumption. In some localities,
new Peronist groups may have competed with other civil actors. But there
is ample evidence of cooperation between partisan and non-partisan organ-
isations on fomentoprojects. The Ministry of Technical Affairs collection
contains scores of petitions, typically from small towns, signed by several
civil associations. A letter from La Puerta, C6rdoba - soliciting a day care
facility, a vocational school for women, and running water, among other
demands - included multi-coloured seals from the community's authorities:
unidadesbisicas,the PartidoPeronistaFeminino,public school officials, the police
department, and a justice of the peace.49In other areas,traditionalopponents
47 AGN-MAT, Legajo 347, 8972.

48 Literally, 'we are dignified enough to have paved roads'. AGN-MAT, Legajo 307, 6607.

andPolitical
StatePlanning inPeronist
Participation 1946-I7 Io01i
Argentina,
came togetherto petition the state: local governmentagenciesjoinedwith
fomento societies,and businessownerswith labourunions.50
These revelationschallenge many of our existing assumptionsabout
the relationshipbetween civil society and Peronism. HistoriansLeandro
Gutierrezand Luis AlbertoRomerowere among the firstscholarsto point
out the significanceof neighbourhoodassociationallife. Accordingto these
authors,sodedades defomento,socialclubs, barriolibraries,and politicalassoci-
ationsof BuenosAires city constituteddemocraticcivil societyin the 1920S
and 1930S.51 Romeroarguesthat in the Peronistera these practicesof citi-
zenshipgavewayto a morerigidlycontrollingandultimately'de-politicising'
mode of participation.In his words, 'the old embryosof participationin
social cells were at root incompatiblewith this populist and authoritarian
regimethat avoidedtheirdevelopmentin its own womb.'52This conclusion
applies without question to some of the civil organisationsexaminedby
Romero (such as Socialist Party groups). But the i951 correspondence
demonstratesthat many older forms of civil society, such as sodedades de
fomento,adaptedto the challengespresentedby Peronist rule. In postwar
Argentina,activist practices that were participatoryand empowering at
the local level dovetailed,paradoxically,with the centralisedstructuresof
planning.53
The 'Per6n Wants to Know' lettersillustratehow certaintypes of civil
society can co-exist and even work at common purposeswith mobilising
variantsof authoritarian rule.54It is clearthat the Peronistregimereshaped
civilsociety,restrictingthe spacesavailablefor some actors(suchas those of
politicalopponents),redefiningthe role of establishedinstitutions(such as
labour unions), and creatingnew organisations(such as partisangroups).
Whathas receivedless attentionby historiansis how individualand collec-
tive actorsin civilsocietyexpandedto meet the opportunitiesofferedby state
populares,culturaypolitica: Buenos
51 Leandro H. Gutierrez and Luis Alberto Romero, Sectores
Aires en la entreguerra
(Buenos Aires, 1995), P. 159.
52 Luis Alberto Romero, 'Participaci6n politica y democracia, I88o-i984,' in Sectores
Populares,
p. '3'.
53 Even in the pre-Peronist period, sociedadesdefomentoin Buenos Aires city adjusted to un-
democratic political environments. Adriin Gorelik has argued that while these organis-
ations offered their members opportunities for democratic experimentation from within,
they also formed alliances with city administrations committed to boss politics and ex-
clusionary strategies of urban development. Adriin Gorelik, La grillay elparque: espatio
piblicoy cultura
urbanaenBuenos (BuenosAires, 1998),pp. 439-49. See also
Aires, g887-I936
Lucianode Privitellio,Vecinosycidudadanos: y sociedad
politica enla Buenos Airesdeentreguerras
(BuenosAires, 2003), pp. 105-48.
54 For examplesof this phenomenonin Europeanhistory,see FrankTrentmann(ed.), The
Paradoxes NewPerspectives
ofCivilSociety: onModemrnGerman andBritishHistory(New Yorkand
pp. 3-46. SheriBerman,'Civil Society and the Collapseof the Weimar
Oxford, zoo2000),
Republic,'World Politics,vol. 49 (April1997),pp. 401-29.

I02 Eduardo
Elena
planning - in the process, shaping, however obliquely, the implementation

of state planners' designs. With few ways of directly influencing policy-
making, ordinary men and women struggled to attract the central state's
attention and resources, justifying their demands as patriotic citizens and
fervent participants in a partisan movement. The 1951-1952 letters offer
a window onto this political dynamic from the vantage of popular sector
Argentines. They reveal that the Peronist regime drew strength from its
newly established mediating institutions, but also more unexpectedly from
pre-existing organisations in civil society, whose members saw in national
planning a means to realise their longstanding aspirations for greater respect-
ability, materialwell-being, and local progress.
Asking and receiving

?
The purported goal of this letter-writing event, as declared in the President's
December 1951 radio address, was to make the Second Five-Year Plan
reflect popular desires. Within weeks of mailing their letters, individuals
received notes from the government confirming the arrivalof their sugges-
tions. What, then, became of the letter-writers' requests and suggestions?
How did officials respond to the flood of correspondence, and what, if
any, impact did the letters have on the state? The dearth of sources on the
internal workings of Per6n's government makes it impossible to formulate
comprehensive answers to these questions. The fragmentaryhistorical record
points, however, to the frustration of the demands made by letter-writers,
partly because of the economic constraints of the post-1952z period. More
generally, the 'Per6n Wants to Know' campaign underscores the ultimate
limits of the regime's ideal of popular participationwithin national planning.
Rebuffed petitioners had few means of venting their displeasure; for those
with persistence, the path to material improvements lay in working through
partisan channels, lobbying officials, and continuing local fomentismoefforts.
At the end of the letter-writing campaign, propaganda-makerspraised the
cooperation of letter-writers and the value of their contributions. Although
media coverage given to this event was by no means extensive (suggesting
perhaps that officials sought to defuse the petitioners' anticipation of con-
crete results), references to the letters appeared in the Peronist media be-
tween December 1951 and the announcement of the second PlanQuinquenal
in December 1952. An article published in Mundo Peronistain July 1952
detailed what became of the 'pueblo's'letters.55Titled 'Here is Your Project!'
the articleoffered the first-hand account ofJose L6pez, a (fictitious?) individ-
ual who decided to visit the Direcci6n Nacional de Planificaci6n to inquire
55 Mundo Peronista, I July I952, pp. 8-I r.

andPolitical
StatePlanning inPeronist
1946-I i
o103
about his letter. L6pez describedhow he was taken through rooms and
rooms of files until he was presentedwith his own proposal;this govern-
ment agency functionedwith machine-likeefficiency,staffed by diligent
bureaucrats who labouredfrom 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the good of the 'pueblo'.
At the end of this impressivetour inside the nerve-centreof Peronistplan-
ning, L6pez could not help but exclaim,as the magazinehoped its readers
would, 'Es grandePerdn! '
As one might expect, there was a notable difference between this propa-
gandisticpublicface andthe responseto correspondencewithingovernment
circles.Briefinternalmemos appendedto the lettersby bureaucratsprovide
some insight into the problems officials faced in meeting popular demands.
The Ministryof TechnicalAffairsacted as a clearing-house,forwardingthe
correspondenceto the appropriatenational,provincial,or municipalagency.
Some of the surviving 'Per6n Wants to Know' letters have replies from
these agenciesattachedto them. But it took anywherefrom one to three
yearsfor these assessmentsto returnto the MAT- well afterthe secondPlan
Quinquenalwas adopted - indicating either the difficulties of processing the
high volume of letters or that this correspondencewas not a priorityfor
officials.
Despite their brevity and formulaic style, these internal memoranda illus-
trate the varietyof state responses to the letter-writers'requests.Memos
sent to the MAT from the Ministryof PublicWorksissuedtersejudgments:
a particular request fell under the jurisdiction of provincial not national
authorities,was alreadyunderconsiderationby the Ministry,or formedpart
of a project alreadyunderway.In the best case scenario,a letter-writer's
request was met with the somewhat vague reply that the Ministry would
add the proposalto its list of futureprojects,which would be built when
the agencyreceivedthe proper funds. Yet bureaucratsalso rejectedmany
demands, often for sound reasons. A request for a one-million-peso loan
from a sports club was deemed 'excessive', while a female petitioner's
personal plea for educationalassistancewas determinednot to be 'an
initiative that should be considered for inclusion in the second Plan
'56
Quinquenal.
Budgetarylimitations were frequentlycited as a reason for refusing
requests, an internal acknowledgement that the economic downturn was
curbing the Peronist planners'ambition. A memo from the 'Technical
Secretary'of La Rioja arguedthat Ernesto from Chamical'srequest for
projects (discussed earlierin this essay) did indeed fall
multiple 'urbanigacidn'
under provincial authority,but the La Rioja government lacked funds
to implement the second Five-Year Plan and depended on national
56 AGN-MAT, Legajo I2, 8676. Legajo 20zo5,10oI44.

104 EduardoElena
contributions.57 The contrastbetweenthe letter-writers' enthusiasmand the

state'slimitationswas striking.In a letterrequestingtelephoneservice,parks,
and otherpublicworks,the PartidoPeronistain the town of Estaci6nClark
proclaimedtriumphantly:'In Per6n's New Argentinathe pueblois joyful
and the countryprogressesin giantleaps,and thus,we see new publicworks
appearon a dailybasis.'Confrontedwith this demand,the Ministryof Com-
municationsconcludedthat althoughit had intendedto extend phone ser-
vice to this town, it was now unabledue to 'financialneeds'.58
Given these practicalhindrances,governmentofficialsfound themselves
in the trickypositionof decidingwhatdo aboutpublicdemandsfor state-led
progress.Per6n had warnedhis radioaudiencein December 19951that not
all planningsuggestionscould be put into action;plannerswould listen and
considerthe requestsof the 'pueblo',but ultimatelymakethe finaldecisions
aboutwhatthe nationneeded.Actionstakenby Peronistauthoritiesbetween
1952 and 1955 in response to other challengeshelped to diffusetensions.
In January1952, Per6n announceda sweepingausteritypackageand called
upon supportersto endurepersonalsacrificesin the short-term.The death
of Evita in July of that yearwas accompaniedwith furtherentreatiesfrom
Per6n for partisan solidarity.The regime's leadershipsought to dispel
anxieties with an elaborate presentationthe second Five-Year Plan in
December 1952. Like its predecessor,the new plan was a dazzlingdisplay
of the planningstate. The second Five-YearPlan showcasedthe regime's
new economicpriorities,especiallywith its emphasison boostingagricultural
productionand developingnaturalresources,but also includedthe types of
public works projectsrequestedby letter-writers.59 Within the constraints
imposed by the austeritymeasures, national and provincialgovernments
funded these projects across the country- continuingto build the New
Argentina,if at a more measuredpace.
It is difficultto determinehow the letter-writersreacted to this com-
binationof mass politics,policy, and propagandain the 1952-19 55 period.
Despite the partisanloyaltythat Argentinemen and women expressedin
their letters,they would surelyhave had their faith in Peronismtested. In
fact, many petitionerswere well accustomedto frustrationand expressed
their dissatisfactionin theirletters.'It's alreadybeen four years',protested
one petitionerin 1951, 'that all us neighbourshave collected signaturesto
see if we can get electricityand some paths, not havingobtainedanything
to date.'A correspondentfromgreaterBuenosAiresclaimedthatmunicipal
officialsin her suburbignoredher earliercorrespondence;she reachedthe
conclusionthat 'in order for those people to take action the order has to
57 AGN-MAT, Legajo i2, 8082. 58 AGN-MAT, Legajo I6I, 11409.

59 Subsecretaria de Informaciones, SegundoPlan Quinquenal,(Buenos Aires, 1952).

StatePlanning
Participation Argentina, i946-ify o105
come at least from General Peron.'60This irritationwith the Peronist
bureaucracymay explainin part why so many petitionerssought to com-
municatedirectlywith Per6nabouttheirproblems.In these cases,the fusing
of populist politics and technicalplanningseemed to breakapart:for the
petitioners,personalappealsto the nation'smost influentialpoliticalpatron
seemedto offera patharoundthe bureaucratic barriersof the planningstate.
Notwithstanding the obstacles they faced, some groups pursued their
lobbying effortswith remarkable resolve. A letterfrom a sociedad in
defomento
GreaterBuenos Aires recountedits long struggleto get a publicplazabuilt
for its community.Membersclaimedto have sent 27 petitions to various
levels of governmentbetween 1928 and 195o,but that'all this was a useless,
beggingpilgrimage'.In i949, they met with Domingo Mercante,the well-
connected governor of Buenos Aires province, who referredtheir case
favourablyto Evita Per6n. The sodedadsproject was consideredby the
federalMinistryof Transportation, which eventuallyrejectedtheirrequest.61
Rather than give up, this organisationparticipatedin Per6n's call for
planningsuggestions,hoping to enlisthis personalassistancein overcoming
these obstacles. Perhaps not all petitionerswere so tenacious, but this
examplepoints to the determinationwith which some advocatesof grass-
rootsfomentopursuedtheir causes. It also suggests that for popularsector
Argentinesthe era of Peronistplanningrepresentedbut one episode (albeit
one of high significance)in a much longer strugglefor communityand
personalimprovement,which continuedwithout much outside recognition
throughoutArgentina'sturbulentpoliticalcycles.
The 'Per6n Wants to Know What the PuebloWants' campaignwas an
innovationin the regime'smasspoliticalrepertoire- an experimentthatwas
never repeated.With Per6n's overthrowby a militarycoup in September
1955, his governmentlost the opportunityto develop a Third Five-Year
Plan, and as a result, there was no occasion to requestpopularplanning
suggestions.For the remainderof the 195z2-1955 period,the regime'sleaders
continuedto encourageindividualsto write in with demandsfor personal
assistance.The abilityof the centralgovernmentto satisfylargerrequests,
such as those for more comprehensivecommunitydevelopment,was cur-
tailedby new economicpoliciesto reinin statespending.Letterson planning
were more likelyto gatherdust in a bureaucrat'sfiling cabinetthan to be-
come a guide for governmentaction.
Yet the actors that took part in the letter-writingcampaigndid not, by
and large,breakopenlywith the Peronistmovement.As the 'Per6n Wants
60 AGN-MAT, Legajo 20o, 6401 and I 16z3. The second petitioners' requests were eventually
added to the province of Buenos Aires's planning registry, according to an internal memo
from November 1953. 61 AGN-MAT, Legajo 62, 9886.

Io6 Eduardo Elena
to Know' letters suggest,there was more at stake in these politicalinter-
actions than a clientelisicbargain,in which the state rewardedsupporters
with public works in exchange for votes.62Despite the limited form of
participationoffered by Peronist planning,men and women from across
Argentinasaw themselvesas workingin concert with those at the highest
level of the state. If the 195 I letters are any indicationof furthertrends,
individualsat the local level continuedto take up the bannerof planning-
even as the governmentfoundit difficultto fulfillits promises.The bonds of
partisansolidarityand the ideal of nationalprogressretainedat least some
of theiroriginalforce.Withinthe politicalconstraintsof the regime,Peronist
sympathiserspressuredofficials to fulfill the unmet promise of the New
Argentina.
Conclusion
The 'Per6nWantsto Know' correspondencesuppliesnew insightsinto two
politicalkeywordsof the mid-twentiethcentury:planningand participation.
In Per6n's Argentina,'planning'as a mode of governancewas linked to
ideas aboutprogresssharedby stateofficialsand popularsectorsupporters.
The 1951-19 52 correspondenceshows that the grand technicalvision of
nationalprogressexpressedin the PlanQuinquenal overlappedat least par-
tially with the dog-earedblueprints of concerned neighbours.The letter-
writers saw the planningstate more as a saviouror an ally in providing
materialimprovementsthanan unwantedintruderto be resisted.By putting
pen to paper,letter-writersalso took partin a type of mass politicalpartici-
pation that offered,in theoryat least, a means of communicationwith the
supremePeronistauthority.Peronistparticipationbuilt upon classicliberal
forms (such as elections),while creatingadditionalvenues for interaction
betweenstateauthoritiesand the public.Similarly,letter-writingrepresented
an older politicaland mass culturalpracticethat was recastwithin the new
mold of mass politics.
This collectionof publiccorrespondenceoffersa raresnapshotof popular
attitudestowardsPeronism,questioningsome familiarassumptionsabout
this Argentinevarietyof populism.Scholarshave drawnattentionto how
populist leaders employed a 'popular' style in communicatingwith their
followers;these leaderspepperedtheir speecheswith slang terms or a put
fortha publicimagethatcontrastedwith the rigidityof traditionalpoliticians.
Even those populistswho weremorestaid,such as Vargasor Cardenas,used
a discursivestyle in which they placed themselvessquarelyon the side of
62 For a case study of Peronismand clientelismin present-day Argentina,see Javier Auyero,

PoorPeople'sPolitics:Peronist NetworksandtheLegacyofEvita(Durham,NC, 2000oo).
Survival

StatePlanning
1946
-9y 107
thepueblo.63 The 19i51- 295 lettersillustratethatthesepopulartransgressions
were only partof the story.Petitionerswere also inspiredby the 'science' of
planningand its ideal of modernisation,in which the centralstate would
literallybuilda New Argentinathroughpublicworksandotherinterventions.
(Whetherplanningwas truly 'scientific' is another question altogether.)
Peronist planningcontained a series of internalcontradictions:between
statedespotismand the vibrantsparkoffomentismo, and betweenthe ration-
ality of the Plan and the empathy of the Conductor.The salientissue here,
which has been overlooked, is the alchemy between these seemingly
opposingelementsinto an unsteady,if potent amalgam.Per6n's'style'was a
combinationof the popularand the technocratic,which drewstrengthfrom
the 'substance'of the planningstatein actionand the propagandistic vision
of the New Argentina.
Naturally,the 'Per6n Wantsto Know' correspondencedoes not provide
a completeview of planningand Peronism.Missingfrom the lettersare the
reactionsof criticsand opponents of the regime'spartisanbrandof statist
intervention.Although this essay has emphasisedthe common ground
reachedby plannersand petitioners,resistancehas its place in the history
of Peronistplanning,especiallyin the contest among business,labour,and
the stateovernationaleconomicplanning.Likewise,the lettersofferglimpses
into the complex worlds of local politics and civil society; one is left to
imaginethe patron-clientrelationshipsthat formed aroundunidades bdsicas,
the strugglesbetweensocidades defomento and other organisations,or the dis-
putes amongneighboursover wherepublicworkswould be built.
Yet the conclusions drawn from this correspondenceprovide a more
complete view of state planningas a twentieth-centurypoliticalphenom-
enon. There is room alongsidethe standardaccountsof centralised,auth-
oritariantechnocracyfor a social history of planning,one that takes into
account how 'ordinary'men and women came to terms with the utopian
dreamsof third-waynationalists.Of course,there are examplesof political
regimes that practicedexclusionaryplanning,with few opportunitiesfor
the popularclasses to participatepoliticallyeven on a symbolic level. In
Argentina,the projectof 'nationalreorganisation'launchedby the military
dictatorshipof the 'Proceso'(1976-1983)reworkedthe discourseof planning
to terroriseworkers,leftists,and the populationas a whole. But other types
of stateplanningin LatinAmerica,especiallythose associatedwith populist
regimes, spoke to the aspirationsof popularhouseholds and other sup-
porters- even as stateleadersfaced structuraleconomiccrises (exacerbated
63
On populismand style,see Alan Knight,'Populismand Neo-populismin LatinAmerica,
especiallyMexico,'Journalof LatinAmerican
Studies,vol. 30 (1998), pp. 223-48; Ernesto
andIdeology
Laclau,Populism (London, i977); MichaelL. Conniff (ed.),
in MarxistTheory
inLatinAmerica
Populism andIntegration,
(Tuscaloosa,I999);James,Resistance pp. 7-40.

Io8 Eduardo
Elena
in most cases by their own poor management) that impeded the realisation of
their ambitious plans. The Peronist state may have lacked the ability of other
planning regimes to implement fully its designs, but its vision of 'progress'
had a deep political and social impact equal to, if not greater than, the actual
number of public works built.
From a contemporary perspective, where the virtues of unregulated
economic markets and small government are defended far and wide, plan-
ning may seem like an odd curiosity. Certainly, many aspects of this period
(such as the Peronist ideal of an 'Organised Community') are best left buried
in the past. Yet the utopias imagined by national planners such as Per6n
and working people such as Zulema have not disappeared entirely. The
connection between progress and public works remains strong in Argentine
communities that still struggle with muddy streets and other problems of
collective consumption, while partisan and neighbourhood associations
still link needy communities to officials who control access to resources.
Although the planning state has faded with the rise of neo-liberalism, the
'luminous road' of progress invoked in 1931 retains, for some Argentines at
least, glimmers of its old lustre.


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What the People Want: State Planning and Political Participation in Peronist Argentina, 1946-

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What the People Want: State Planning

Zulema, a woman from the city of Santiagodel Estero, wrote to Juan

EduardoElenais a lecturerat PrincetonUniversity.

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This woman was by no means alone in sharingher thoughts with the

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mother, among others - common to the genre of public letter-writingin this

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7 StephenKotkin'sworkon Stalinism offersa fruitfulmodelforconsidering thisdynamic.

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9 RepiiblicaArgentina,PlanQuinquenal delPresidentePerdn,i947-ip9y (BuenosAires,n.d.).

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12 AGN, Departamentode Fotografia,Caja1307,Sobre

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hierarchies, affirming claims to social citizenship, and emphasising their

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18 Estela de los Santos, Las mujeresperonistas

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22 Pablo Gerchunoffand Lucas un siglodepoliticas

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Table i. Geographical ofLetter-writers

community members, and multiple organisations signed the same letter.

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34 AGN-MAT, Legajo 79, I0986. 35 AGN-MAT, Legajo 49, 5896.

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projects themselves. Like theirpeers elsewherein LatinAmerica,men and

3"AGN-MAT,Legajoi 2, 8664.It is importantto note thatthe term'villa'in this timeperiod

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39 AGN-MAT, Legajo205, II1622. 40 AGN-MAT, Legajo205, 10134-

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There was no concerted national effort to include sociedadesdefomentowithin the official

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47 AGN-MAT, Legajo 347, 8972.

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planning - in the process, shaping, however obliquely, the implementation

Asking and receiving

55 Mundo Peronista, I July I952, pp. 8-I r.

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56 AGN-MAT, Legajo I2, 8676. Legajo 20zo5,10oI44.

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contributions.57 The contrastbetweenthe letter-writers' enthusiasmand the

57 AGN-MAT, Legajo i2, 8082. 58 AGN-MAT, Legajo I6I, 11409.

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62 For a case study of Peronismand clientelismin present-day Argentina,see Javier Auyero,

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