Social movements and subnational income inequality: Contributions to the comparative study of two Argentine provinces

Comparing Argentine provinces is relevant due to the presence of institutional and cultural factors common to all the cases that can be used as control variables in a study. Specifically, Chaco and Corrientes are two neighboring Argentine provinces located in the north of the country that are historically, culturally, and economically connected.

Initially, both had high levels of inequality in 2003. However, while Chaco reduced its GINI coefficient from 49.8 to 38.9 in 2018, Corrientes went from 50.5 in 2003 to 41.4 in 2018. By the end of this period, Chaco was well below the national average, while Corrientes remained above it. Could the relationship between social movements and subnational states explain these results?

Chaco has a denser, more organized, and more horizontal civil society that relates to the provincial state through institutionalized channels. In contrast, in Corrientes, civil society is less dense, more hierarchical, with fewer grassroots organizations, and without institutionalized channels in the civil society-provincial state relationship.²

To preliminarily examine the relationships between provincial states and social movements and their impact on inequality, I developed a database from secondary sources and news articles to identify characteristics of the social movements in each province. Specifically, I focused on the so-called "piquetero" movement, a social movement composed of workers outside the formal labor market. This includes the informal urban sector –self-employed workers, street vendors, unregistered employees– rural workers, and the unemployed. They differ from formal workers with labor contracts, who generally organize under unions.

From this research, I identified that Chaco has a stronger, though more heterogeneous and fragmented, piquetero movement than Corrientes. In Chaco, I identified 38 social movement organizations. In contrast, in Corrientes, I identified 10. As Román points out, while social movements in Chaco exhibit a wide political-ideological spectrum, Corrientes has a lower level of social movement density, with fewer movements and less fragmentation.

A second aspect to consider is the existence of institutionalized mechanisms and dialogue forums between the state and social movements, as well as the participation of social movement representatives in subnational cabinets. “We have participation of representatives of social movements in the provincial government. Many people who are part of the cabinet are also part of social organizations” (Lucas Cepeda, Undersecretary of Employment of Chaco, interview on June 21, 2021; quoted in Del Tredici 2022, 112). As Del Tredici (2022) notes, in Chaco, unlike Corrientes, social movements have institutionalized mechanisms for participation in the provincial state, allowing them to influence public policy decisions that impact the territories. In Corrientes, the relationship between social movements and the provincial state is conflictive, and no institutionalized mechanisms of cooperation between the state and social movements are recorded.³

These aspects provide only a preliminary contribution to understanding how the relationship between subnational states and social movements could impact subnational income inequality in federal countries. Continued research is needed in order to understand how the relationship between the state and its social movements can lead to better public policy outcomes and reduce inequality.