Inequality in Argentina during the 1990s

Approaches from historical science

Abstract

Inequality represents a central socio-economic problem in Latin America, which is sadly recognized as one of the regions of the world that suffers the greatest inequality. Its high rates remain valid, even when indicators such as those of extreme poverty or basic human development have improved in recent decades. Thus, we must not exaggerate the extensive debates that this problem triggers in different areas and spaces. Inequality undermines democracy, which is why its approach is urgent, as well as the implementation of authentic policies that achieve, at least, their decline. Many research on inequality in Latin America or in Argentina has mainly focused on generating statistics and indices and / or developing purely economic case studies, that is, they focused on one of the dimensions of poverty, the economic one, naturalized the relationship poverty-wealth in capitalist terms, which obliterated other dimensions of the issue, such as ethical and cultural poverty; forgetting to include, for example, historical contexts such as the important role played by the State, national governments, and equity initiatives of important organizations such as CEPAL. In recent years, approaches to the problem have been made through the inclusion of historical and political perspectives. Following this last trend, in the present study we will approach inequality in Argentina during the 1990s from the beginning of history; we see inequality as a public and social problem, as well as an economic one.