After 40 years of democracy: achievements, debts and collective challenges
Call for research: essays, videos and photographs
Platform “Democracy, Human Rights and Peace”
Registration closes: May 6, 2024
In 1983, Argentinians embarked on a new historical era: hopes were reborn, long-awaited embraces returned; tears transformed sadness into a nascent and yearned-for joy; grimaces of pain and muscles tense from attempts at rebellion gave way to shared laughter; songs heard in clandestine solitude emerged in the finest street symphony and choral performance of a people yearning for collective reunions postponed by fear, absence, and the wounds in their bodies and daily lives. All of that seemed to be left behind forever.
However, events repeatedly revealed that the ghosts of the past still haunted us. After each of these situations, it became necessary to return to the streets time and again, to join groups that shared ideals, to exchange banners, to once more integrate ourselves into the city's choruses with the slogans that summoned marches and collective mobilizations, artistic expressions, and educational and cultural activities. Then, amidst our daily tasks, we sought out opportunities to recover stories from recent years in order to preserve our collective memory.
In 40 years there were emergencies, advances, and setbacks. Throughout that time, social memory, the search for truth and justice became state policies; new and demanded rights once again filled the streets, with slogans, innovative performances, laughter, embraces, and, once more, the hope of living through a historical period where uncertainty, fear, and violence would never again be a real threat. And the year arrived to celebrate the fourth decade of collective consensus and the "Never Again" movement, reaffirming its unwavering and renewed validity.
And so 2023 arrived. Not through an institutional coup—as in other times—but as a result of the legitimate will of the people, those consensuses that were thought to be ingrained in the fabric of Argentine society revealed their fragility. Many felt joy, hope for change, and an urgent need to find answers to persistent social debts that had remained unresolved for 40 years. Others were overcome by sadness, unease, uncertainty, and fear for a future that was materializing in a threatening present.
Choosing a path that proposes fundamental changes today may entail reformulating essential convictions, certain risks, and many dangers, even with promises of achieving changes that are currently being heralded with severe social adjustments, increased poverty, fewer opportunities for the majority, and greater inequalities. Other paths seem treacherous, complex, and more uncertain, even though they lead to renewing the validity of convictions to build spaces of dignity and social justice, and to try new approaches by adding other voices and social actors.
This path may lack a common compass in these times, and it will be necessary to unite voices, to foster polyphonic plurality, without nostalgia, without slogans emptied of meaning, without self-proclaimed enlightened ones reiterating failed analyses, but also without wishful thinking. We will have to learn to discover other perspectives without abandoning our convictions and recovering past experiences, without closing ourselves off to emergencies.
In this context, from academic, scientific, cultural, and creative spheres, we renew our invitation to build the collective projects needed in this juncture, promoting social dialogues that embrace diversity in backgrounds, identities, generations, and territories. Based on this context and this assessment, the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the CLACSO member centers in Argentina invite you to participate in the Call for Proposals “After 40 Years of Democracy: Achievements, Debts, and Collective Challenges.”
Objective
The purpose of this call for papers is to analyze and delve into the events that transpired after Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, exploring their political, economic, social, and cultural repercussions. It also seeks to analyze and describe the achievements of the past 40 years, the key social actors involved, and their impact on the daily lives of citizens. Furthermore, it aims to investigate the social, economic, and political challenges that remain in democratic life today. Finally, it seeks to analyze and propose, with a view to a new political era, actions that promote the development of more just and inclusive collective projects.
Dimensions of the Call for Proposals
The proposals may be oriented around one of these four dimensions, which are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive:
- Socio-cultural
- Socio-economic
- Socio-political
- Scientific-technological
CONTEST RULES
This call for entries is organized into two categories, which teams of up to 4 members can apply for:
National Category (minimum 1 member, maximum 4): all members must have an accredited link with one of the CLACSO Member Centers in Argentina.
Regional Category (Minimum 2 members, maximum 4): At least one team member must be affiliated with a CLACSO Member Center in Argentina. This person must coordinate the proposal and be responsible for the application. Once this requirement is met, the other members of the proposal may be affiliated with CLACSO centers in other countries, provided that the project addresses the Argentine case within the theme of this Call for Proposals.
In collective applications for both categories (national and regional), it is also important to consider that, in accordance with the Social Dialogues promoted by CLACSO, they may include social movements and organizations, which will form a team with members of CLACSO Member Centers. While this requirement is not mandatory, it will be positively considered in the evaluation of applications.
The formation of teams must respect gender parity and intergenerational composition, integrating members from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Each applicant may only participate with one proposal in this Call for Proposals.
They must select one of the members as responsible for registering the project.
The information provided on the registration form is considered a sworn statement. If the project is selected, a letter of support signed by the highest authority of the member center with which the proposal is linked must be submitted.
The member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2023.
Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat may not participate.
The Call for Proposals has three participation options:
Option 1: Essays
In this first stage, a essay proposal which must be unpublished and, if selected, the final essay submitted must also be unpublished, and cannot be committed for publication or have won awards in other calls.
The essay proposal submitted for selection must be uploaded via the online form, with a maximum of 2000 (two thousand) words. The essay proposal must include a complete abstract and a work plan, taking into account the length and characteristics of the final essay that will be submitted if the proposal is selected.
Once selected, the winning proposals will have up to thirty (30) calendar days to deliver the final version of the essay in publishable quality, according to the proposal submitted.
Regarding the final rehearsals:
- Submissions should be between 12.000 and 15.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate guideline, and CLACSO reserves the right to accept revisions or exceptions if deemed necessary. The text structure is flexible, respecting the conventions for academic writing, and the editorial guidelines will be those of CLACSO's collections and publications.
- CLACSO will publish the final products in print and/or digital media, giving them wide publicity and dissemination through the means it deems appropriate. If necessary, the authors will be asked to make the adaptations and adjustments required for the resulting works to be published.
- The authors will transfer the original publication rights of their works, given that CLACSO adheres to and defends the principles of open science and open access to knowledge, so that the resulting work is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, the works may be published in any other medium, always citing this Call for Papers. The authors must inform CLACSO of the subsequent publication of the works resulting from their research.
- Proposals from researchers currently participating in other research calls, grants, or trials organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Applications from researchers who have been selected in a CLACSO research call will be accepted, provided the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
- Texts written in the four languages commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) will be accepted.
Option 2: Videos.
- Applicants must submit an audiovisual work between 4 and 16 minutes in length. The material must be filmed in high definition (HD) or 4K and be of sufficient quality to allow for playback on digital platforms and social media.
- Video Upload: The video must be uploaded to the YouTube platform, and the corresponding link must be incorporated into the official registration system of the Call for Proposals and into a cloud storage system.
- Credits: All credits related to the production of the video must be included in full at the end of the video.
- Video Documentation: Attached to the video, a brief description is required, including the title and a synopsis not exceeding 250 words, along with the relevant credits.
- Exclusivity: Videos that have been selected in other calls for entries will be excluded. Applicants to this call for entries must hold all rights to submit the audiovisual material.
Option 3: Pictures.
1- Participants must submit one or a series of high definition (HD) photographs, suitable for dissemination on digital platforms and social networks.
- Quality Standard: Submitted photographs must meet a high-definition standard. Images must have a minimum resolution of 1920x1080 pixels to ensure their suitability for reproduction and display on various digital platforms and social media. Submissions with resolutions higher than standard HD, such as 2K, 4K, or higher, will be viewed favorably to allow for optimal viewing on high-resolution devices.
- File Format: Images in JPEG or PNG format will be accepted to ensure compatibility with most display systems. Photographs should be optimized for quality viewing without excessive compression that degrades the image.
- Photo upload: The photo must be uploaded via a link that directs to a cloud storage service. This link must be entered in the official registration system for the Call for Entries.
- Credits: Full credits for the submitted photograph must be included.
- Documentation of the photograph: The photographic work submitted must be accompanied by a brief description containing the title and a synopsis of up to 250 words, in addition to the corresponding credits.
- Exclusivity: Photographs that have already been selected in other competitions will not be accepted. The photograph must be original. Applicants to this competition must hold all rights to submit the photograph.
Essays: Up to ten (10) essays will be selected.
Videos and photographs: Up to five (5) videos or audiovisual productions and up to five (5) photographs will be selected
Format: Essays
- The selected essays will be published digitally in open access, free of charge. Links will be fostered between CLACSO and those centers that have a publishing house, enabling collaborations for editing and digital or print publication.
- CLACSO and the publishers that join the proposal reserve the rights of publication, reproduction and/or exhibition of the final products prepared within the framework of the call under any medium.
- The authors will transfer the original publication rights of their works, given that CLACSO adheres to and defends the principles of open science and open access to knowledge, so that the resulting work is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, the works may be published in any other medium, always citing this Call for Papers.
Formats: videos and photographs
The winning videos and photographs will be disseminated on CLACSO's social networks and hosted on the CLACSO website, seeking the widest possible dissemination in the spaces that CLACSO and the network of Centers consider appropriate.
It is an essential requirement that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO.
Printed or emailed submissions will not be accepted. Applications that do not comply with the established guidelines will be technically rejected.
It is recommended to access the online system to learn about the registration format.
- Visit the CLACSO website, www.clacso.org, to access the registration system. Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). Each time an applicant wishes to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity, they must log in with their personal username and password. Applicants submitting essays authored collectively must designate one of the authors as responsible for the registration.
- Identify the essay, video, or photograph(s) by indicating their title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Submissions with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted.
- Complete the personal and academic data form and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the passport, the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process), and a color photograph of each applicant.
- Attach the essay, video or photograph(s) respecting the characteristics established in this call.
- To finalize your application, click the CLOSE REGISTRATION button. The system will generate an electronic certificate that will serve as proof of successful submission. The system will only consider applications that have been successfully submitted.
- The application deadline is xx of xx of 2024.
- The winning essay proposals will be announced before [date] 2024. Those selected will be contacted by email.
- Participation in the Call implies acceptance of its Terms and Conditions.
Registration closes: May 6, 2024
Communication with the selected candidates: June 3, 2024
Submission of the final essay, video or photograph (those that have been selected): July 05, 2024
The results will be published on the CLACSO website. The winners will be contacted by email.
Queries: [email protected]
Bases and forms in this link.
REPORT – After 40 years of democracy: achievements, debts and collective challenges
In 1983, Argentinians embarked on a new historical era: hopes were reborn, long-awaited embraces returned; tears transformed sadness into a nascent and yearned-for joy; grimaces of pain and muscles tense from attempts at rebellion gave way to shared laughter; songs heard in clandestine solitude emerged in the finest street symphony and choral expression of a people yearning for collective reunions postponed by fear, absence, and the wounds in their bodies and daily lives. In 40 years, there have been urgent matters, progress, and setbacks. Throughout this period, social memory, the search for truth, and justice became state policies. The year has arrived to celebrate the fourth decade of collective consensus and the "Never Again" movement, reaffirming its renewed and unwavering validity. In 2023, without an institutional coup – as in other times – but as a result of the legitimate citizen decision, those consensuses that were believed to be integrated into the Argentine capillary showed their fragility.
Throughout this process, from academic, scientific, cultural, and creative spheres, we renew our invitation to build the collective projects needed in this context, promoting social dialogues that embrace the diversity of backgrounds, identities, generations, and territories. Based on this context and this assessment, the Latin American Council of Social Sciences
(CLACSO) and the CLACSO member centers of Argentina present the opinion of the Call “After 40 years of democracy: achievements, debts and collective challenges.”
They were opened 66 forms and were finally received 22 applications, which after the technical and formal review, were in a position to be qualitatively evaluated by the Committee to consider the quality, relevance and coherence of the proposals according to the Call.
The evaluation process was carried out by a Committee composed of 9 Experts: Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky (Argentina), Mariano Fraschini (Argentina), Carolina Jiménez (Colombia), Gustavo Lema (Argentina), Fabiana Martínez (Argentina), Manuel Rivera (Guatemala), Ruth Sosa (Argentina), Sandra Valdettaro (Argentina) and Soledad Vercellino (Argentina).
Following the evaluation, which recognized the excellent quality, relevance and rigor of most of the applications, 10 proposals were selected for the essay category and one for the audiovisual category.
The list of selected proposals from the Call for Proposals is as follows:
|
Winning Proposals |
||||
|
Authors |
Member Center |
Country |
Title of the proposal |
Category |
|
Tania Julieta Rodriguez |
AR-030 – Gino Germani Research Institute – IIGG/UBA – Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
The union agenda from a feminist perspective: mobilizations, articulations and tensions in recent Argentina. |
Test |
|
Jerónimo Pinedo |
AR-044 – Institute of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences – IdIHCS/UNLP-CONICET – National University of La Plata – National Council for Scientific and Technical Research |
Argentina |
Contentious Democracy |
Test |
|
María Emilia Perri |
AR-064 – Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences – FCJS/UNL – National University of the Littoral |
Argentina |
The role of gender-sensitive electoral legislation in promoting inclusive political participation: An analysis of developments at the national and subnational levels in Argentina. |
Test |
|
María Belén Riveiro |
AR-030 – Gino Germani Research Institute – IIGG/UBA – Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
Cultural citizenships, democratization and literary commitment: the editorial work of Ricardo Piglia (Los mundos posibles, Folios, 1983-1984, Argentina) |
Test |
|
Juan Bautista Lucca – María Angélica Gunturiz Rodríguez – Jose del Tronco |
AR-038 – Secretariat of Research and Postgraduate Studies – SIP/UNR – Faculty of Political Science and International Relations – UNR – National University of Rosario |
Argentina |
Critical junctures in Argentina's new democracy: Depoliticization and the erosion of popular support as risks to its stability |
Test |
|
Mariana Olmedo |
AR-095 – Department of Social Sciences – DCSUNDAV – National University of Avellaneda |
Argentina |
Converging Voices: The Impact of Transmedia Storytelling on Democracy |
Test |
|
Gabriela Dranovsky – Nicolás Alejo Lavagnino – Daniel Filmus |
AR-103 – Workers' Innovation Center – CITRA – CONICET and UMET (Metropolitan University for Education and Work) |
Argentina |
Forty years of democracy: achievements, difficulties and challenges in building state policies in Science, Technology and Innovation |
Test |
|
Mauro Benente |
AR-019 – Foundation for Social and Political Research – FISyP |
Argentina |
Constitutional reform and democracy. Forty years later |
Test |
|
Claudia Cecilia Anzorena |
AR-011 – Secretariat of Research and Scientific Publication – SIPUC/FCPyS – UNCUYO – Faculty of Political and Social Sciences – National University of Cuyo |
Argentina |
The feminist and sexual diversity movement in the history of democracy in Argentina (1983-2023). Without us, would only debts remain? |
Test |
|
Yussef Becher – Alberto Enrique Pérez |
AR-034 – Master's Degree in Society and Institutions – MSeI/UNSL – Faculty of Economic, Legal and Social Sciences – National University of San Luis |
Argentina |
The hegemonic production model, subjectivities, and generational configurations. The possibility in a democracy of building “another economy.” The case of the July 20 Cooperative in the city of Villa Mercedes (San Luis). |
Test |
|
María Jimena Sancho – Marcelo Fabian Lucero – Cinthia Milena Trigo Robles – Luis Alejandro Tomas |
AR-032 – Institute of Socioeconomic Research – IISE/UNSJ – Faculty of Social Sciences – National University of San Juan |
Argentina |
Forest of Memory |
Video |
This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.
Buenos Aires, July 5, 2024
