These pages were created by Dr Dennis Rodgers during Phase 1 of the Crisis States Programme when this project was being carried out they and provide information about research on local level institutional change in response to the crisis in Argentina. The project was carried out principally from an anthropological perspective and was an exercise in inductive research. The fieldwork component of the project was conducted between mid-April and mid-September 2003, with the formal production of written output developed between 2003 and 2005.

More specifically, the research project considers the conjunction between economic and political action in situations of crisis, focusing on the changing framework of everyday life, and exploring concomitant shifts in forms of collective mobilisation and the processes of their institutionalisation within Argentine society. Background information, the original project proposal, monthly reports, excerpts from interview transcripts, extracts from field notes, photos, and publications about this research have been made available in order to provide an insight into the research as it occurred.  Dr Rodgers gives his views about the website below :

The idea behind this website was twofold. Firstly, to add to the various existing sources of information on the crisis in Argentina, which is all too often erroneously presented as being simply a financial crisis when it is in fact much more than this, a total crisis enveloping not only the Argentinean economy but also its polity, society, and culture. I do not claim to present either 'the truth' or a comprehensive vision of the crisis, but rather simply hope to add to the growing body of knowledge about the crisis in Argentina, from a particular perspective – my own – and through a specific issue. To quote the Argentinean writer Julio Cortázar, "vision must necessarily be fragmentary. ...I don’t claim to know it all. ... My goal is simply to feel the heartbeat, to be as close as possible to the bare pulse of emotions of the people." (From Nicaraguan Sketches, translated by K. Weaver, New York, NY: W. Norton & Company, 1989: 85-86).

An important caveat, however, is that there have inevitably been limitations on what is uploaded onto this website. Some of these relate to time constraints and storage space, but the most important limitation derives from the fact that – as ought to be the case with all research – my first responsibility as a researcher is to those who help me with my research, sharing information and indeed opening up their lives to me. Quite naturally, many were reluctant to have their opinions and experiences publicised on a website, for reasons that can range from an individual wish for privacy to having responsibilities which go beyond their private status.

E-mail: d.w.rodgers@lse.ac.uk