Crisis in Argentina Website

Photo Gallery

 

 

The photos displayed in these photo galleries may be used freely for non-commercial purposes, although acknowledgement of the source and photographer (Dennis Rodgers) would be appreciated.
 

Graffiti in Buenos Aires


Piquetero March

On 9 June 2003, I attended a piquetero march organised collectively by the Movimiento Teresa Rodríguez (MTR), the Movimiento de Unidad Popular (MUP), the Movimiento 26 de Junio and the Asociación de Trabajadores Varelenses (ATV). The march, which met at the intersection of the Avenidas de Mayo and Bernardo de Irigoyen, walked down the former avenue to the Plaza de Mayo – the “classic” location for protest in Buenos Aires – where the Presidential Palace, the Casa Rosada (Pink House), is located. The marchers demanded that President Kirchner provide them with means – both material and financial – to organise self-employment initiatives and small-scale cooperatives in order for the unemployed to regain their dignity through work. The march proceeded peacefully to the Plaza de Mayo, where products of existing self-help initiatives by unemployed workers were exhibited while the piqueteros leaders were admitted to the Casa Rosada in order to try and meet President Kirchner in order to present him with their demands. President Kirchner, as it turned out, was otherwise engaged, but they were promised an audience at a future date. Once informed of the results, the marchers then dispersed peacefully.

 

La Matanza

The partido La Matanza is a suburb/slum of Greater Buenos Aires. It has approximately 1,800,000 inhabitants, and is extremely heterogeneous. It has some richer areas and some very poor areas, although many of the latter themselves display high levels of socio-economic differentiation. The Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados (MTD Unemployed Workers Movement) operates out of an old school in barrio La Juanita. This locale has been baptised the Centro para la Educacion y Formacion de Cultura Comunitaria (CEFoCC Centre for the Education and Creation of a Communitarian Culture). The photos in this series reflect my walk from the bus stop to the CEFoCC, and hopefully provide a sense of the socio-economic level of barrio La Juanita.

The Ruta 3 Por D'Elia graffiti on the Ruta 3 Entrance to Barrio La Juanita La Juanita's main road, Avenida Da Vinci Side street off Da Vinci 1 Side street off Da Vinci 2 Pro-Kirchner graffiti Side street off Da Vinci 3 Side street off Da Vinci 4 General store on Da Vinci Free football advert Free football!! Side street off Da Vinci 5 Avenida Da Vinci 1 Side street off Da Vinci 6 First view of the Cefocc Avenida Da Vinci 2 Avenida Juan B. Justo with the Cefocc on the left

 

Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados

The Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados (MTD – Unemployed Workers’ Movement) in La Matanza, a suburb/slum of Greater Buenos Aires, is physically located in an old school in barrio La Juanita. This locale has been baptised the Centro para la Educación y Formación de Cultura Comunitaria (CEFoCC – Centre for the Education and Creation of a Communitarian Culture). The locale – which is still in the process of (re)construction – houses the MTD cooperative, which includes an economically viable "social" bakery ("social" because its first aim is to provide reasonably-priced bread for the local community), a successful editing and publishing house (the cooperative has published two books, one on its participation in the first Social Forum in Porto Alegre and the other on its journey "from dependency to autonomy"), a sewing workshop, a graphic design workshop, a daily barter club, and aims to also establish an alternative primary school with a popular education curriculum. Recently, a shoemaker also set up shop in the CEFoCC.

The CEFoCC 1 The CEFoCC 2 The CEFoCC 3 The CEFoCC 4 Inside the CEFoCC 1 Inside the CEFoCC 2 Panoramic view from the entrance of the CEFoCC Panoramic view from the courtyard Unroofed rooms in the CEFoCC Unroofed rooms in the CEFoCC (detail) The bakery The bread oven The sewing workshop The graphic design workshop The shoemaker's workshop The barter club rules and regulations

 

MTD Workshop

On 13 July 2003, the MTD La Matanza held a workshop bringing together members of the MTD, schoolteachers, barrio La Juanita parents, and various investigators and collaborators. The workshop was held in the CEFoCC. The purpose of the workshop was to cooperatively determine and discuss the principles and values of the alternative school that the MTD La Matanza want to set up in the CEFoCC. It was the second such workshop, and built on the initial framework thrashed out by the first. Almost 30 people participated in all.

Last minute setting of the workshop agenda Settling in for the workshop Poster summarising background research on schooling Poster summarising background research on perceptions Summary of the first workshop's conclusions 1 Summary of the first workshop's conclusions 2 Workshop participants 1 Workshop participants 2 Workshop participants 3 Summarising the workshop conclusions The workshop's points for further action 1 The workshop's points for further action 2 Summary posters of workshops