Double podcast episode about the 2001 uprising in Argentina, which toppled the government, and saw the spread of neighbourhood assemblies and factories taken over by workers. In conversation with Tomas Rothaus, a participant in the uprising and author of Argentina, a Tale of Two Utopias.
Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes without ads, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Supporters also get access to two exclusive podcast series: Fireside Chats and Radical Reads. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
You can listen to our podcast on the links below, or on any major podcast app. Links to a few below.
Episodes
- Part 1: The uniqueness of Argentine football culture; the state of the Argentine left/working-class movement in the 1990s; the struggle to save Racing Club from bankruptcy; the beginning of the 2001 uprising – Available for early listening without ads for our supporters on Patreon.
- Bonus ep 1.1: Football culture in Argentina; politics on the terraces; historical roots of teams in immigrant communities as well as anarchist and socialist workers’ groups; Tomas’ two-day ordeal of trying to buy tickets for Racing Club’s last game of the 2001 season – Available exclusively for our supporters on Patreon.
- Part 2: Tomas’ first-hand account of the 2001 uprising; the spread of neighbourhood assemblies; factories taken over and placed under workers’ control; Argentine politics from left-Peronism to the present far-right government – Available for early listening for our supporters on Patreon.
- Bonus ep 2.1: struggle for the memory of the ‘Dirty War’; the importance of the Argentine uprising for the anti-globalisation movement; debates around violence at the time – Available soon exclusively for our supporters on Patreon.
More info
- Get Tomas’ book: Argentina, a Tale of Two Utopias: Anarchism, Soccer, Neoliberalism
- Also check out Tomas’ other book, Another War Is Possible: Militant Anarchist Experiences in the Antiglobalization Era
- Further reading on Argentina 2001:
- Check out more books about football and politics in our online store
Video
Watch Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis’ excellent 2004 documentary, The Take, about the wave of factory takeovers by workers in Argentina that took place in the wake of the 2001 uprising
Sources
- (2025) ‘Argentina dictatorship ends’. Working Class History. [accessed 2025 Nov 26]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12747/argentina-dictatorship-ends.
- ARGENTINA Legal Memorandum The Full Stop and Due Obedience Laws SUBMITTED BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS. 2003. [accessed 2025 Dec 9]. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/amr130182003en.pdf (accessed 19 January 2026).
- (1990). ‘Argentina’s record inflation in 1989’, UPI, 8 January. Available at: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/01/08/Argentinas-record-inflation-in-1989/1808631774800/#:~:text=Jan.,dropped%20an%20estimated%2050%20percent (accessed 19 January 2026).
- (2023). ‘Days before debate, Javier Milei denies shagging his sister in “fake news” list’, Buenos Aires Times, 11 December. Available at: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/days-before-debate-argentinas-presidential-candidate-javier-milei-denies-shagging-his-sister-in-fake-news-list.phtml (accessed 19 January 2026).
- (2002). ‘El día que la Plaza se volvió a cubrir de sangre’, Clarín, 20 January. Available at: https://www.clarin.com/politica/dia-plaza-volvio-cubrir-sangre_0_S1LlReUe0Kl.html (accessed 19 January 2026).
- ‘Proyecto Desaparecidos Argentina: Víctimas de la Triple A’. Desaparecidos.org. [archived June 19, 2022, accessed 2025 Nov 26]. https://web.archive.org/web/20220619154708/http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/victimas/listas/aaa.html.
- (2002). ‘Que se vayan todos! — Out with them all! Argentina’s Popular Rebellion’, Fifth Estate, #359, Winter 2002–2003 [accessed 2025 Dec 9].
- Aufheben (2001). ‘Picket and Pot Banger Together – Class recomposition in Argentina?’, libcom.org. (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Black, Ian (2001). ‘Two shot and 600 held as rioters disrupt summit’, The Guardian, 16 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/16/eu.politics2 (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Dinerstein, Ana C (2003). “¡Que Se Vayan Todos! Popular Insurrection and the Asambleas Barriales in Argentina.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 22, no. 2: 187–200. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27733570.
- Ferre, Juan Cruz. “The Rise of Javier Milei and the Emergence of Authoritarian Liberalism in Argentina.” Latin American Research Review 60, no. 4 (2025): 965–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/lar.2025.10.
- Garay, Candelaria (2016). “Social Mobilization and Inclusive Social Policy in Argentina” in Social Policy Expansion in Latin America, pp. 165–221. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Human Rights Watch (2005). ‘Argentina: Amnesty Laws Struck Down’. June 15. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/06/14/argentina-amnesty-laws-struck-down [accessed 2025 Dec 9].
- Iglesia, Facundo (2024). ‘“Justification of dictatorship”: outcry as Milei rewrites Argentina’s history’ The Guardian, 23 March Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/23/javier-milei-argentina-dictatorship-remembrance [accessed 2025 Dec 10].
- Klein, Naomi and Avi Lewis (2004). The Take, Icarus Films (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Koepsel, Rachel (2011). “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo: First Responders for Human Rights” (PDF). University of Denver. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2012. Accessed 1 December 2025.
- Levey, Cara (2024). ‘Argentina: Javier Milei’s government poses an urgent threat to human rights’. The Conversation, 27 March. Available at: https://theconversation.com/argentina-javier-mileis-government-poses-an-urgent-threat-to-human-rights-226534 (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Litza, M. E (2020). ‘La protesta social en Argentina y la aplicación de políticas de seguridad ciudadana: represión y contención: relación con el contexto económico, político y social (1997-2010)’. PhD Thesis. Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. Faculty of Social Sciences. 2020. Available at: https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/11444 (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Marcelo Larraquy (2018). López Rega: El peronismo y la Triple A (Sudamericana).
- ‘Operation Red Snake of the Paraná’. Working Class History. 2025. [accessed 2025 Nov 26]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9299/operation-red-snake-of-the-paran%C3%A1.
- Martín Mosquera (2025). ‘The Meaning of Milei’, New Left Review, 155, September–October (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Panitch, Leo (1981). “Trade Unions and the Capitalist State”, New Left Review, I/125, January–February (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Plummer, Robert (2024). ‘Argentina records sharp rise in poverty’, BBC, 27 September. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceqn751x19no (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Pou, Pedro (2000). ‘Argentina’s Structural Reforms of the 1990s’, Finance & Development, (March) Vol. 37, No. 1. Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/03/pou.htm (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Rogero, Tiago and Facundo Iglesia (2025). ‘Javier Milei embroiled in corruption scandal tying his sister to alleged bribes’, The Guardian, 27 August. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/27/javier-milei-sister-argentina-alleged-kickbacks (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Ruggeri, Andrés (2022). ‘Self-management in Argentina 20 Years After 2001’, Grassroots Economic Organising, 17 January (accessed 19 January 2026).
- Sitrin, Marina (2006). Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina. Oakland: AK Press.
- Sitrin, Marina (2014). ‘Argentina: Against and Beyond the State’ in Rethinking Latin American Social Movements: Radical Action from Below by Richard Stahler-Sholk, Harry E. Vanden, and Marc Becker (eds.). London: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Vieta, Marcelo. “Worker-Recovered Enterprises as Workers’ Cooperatives: The Conjunctures, Challenges, and Innovations of Self-Management in Argentina.” n.d.
- Wildcat (2006). ‘Zanon factory occupation – interview with workers’. libcom.org [accessed 9 December 2025].
Acknowledgements
- Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands.
- Episode graphic: protester in front of the Buenos Aires Obelisk, 20 December 2001. Public domain/Wikimedia Commons.
- Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.
- Edited by Jesse French
Subscribe
Listen and subscribe to WCH in the following ways: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Castbox | Youtube | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Podbean | Radio Public | RSS | TuneIn
Transcript
Coming soon…
