Racionalidad neoliberal y populismo: el caso del kirchnerismo en Argentina. Perspectivas en disputa

In the present work we approach the kirchnerist process from the two most widespread theoretical-political perspectives in Argentina: the institutionalist and the political theory of discourse. We focus the analysis on two widely debated topics, on the one hand, the relationship between kirchnerism and neoliberalism and, on the other, the specificity of kirchnerist populism. The article also aims to be a systematization of part of the existing literature on the kirchnerist process. In the final considerations we will give an account of the type of rupture that the kirchnerist discourse operated with respect to neoliberalism and of specific categories that allow us to interpret the singularity of said process, beyond considering it populism. At the same time, we will conclude in a certain impotence of the really existing populisms when it comes to confronting neoliberal rationality due, among other reasons, to a focus on the State-nation dynamic –a vertical aspect of politics– and neglecting the logic of the new social movements –horizontal aspect of politics–. A frontal policy against neoliberalism requires the development of new analytical categories.