Political Training in Four Generations of Activists in Argentina and Brazil

This paper, which is part of wider research on the transformation of political linkages in Argentina and Brazil, analyzes a specific dimension: political activist training. It seeks to understand how transformations such as weaker partisanship and intense political fluctuation manifest in the way activists have defined and experienced political training. I examine narratives in interviews held between 2007 and 2015 with four generational groups of activists, classified according to the historical period in which they engaged in youth activism. All of them were members of government-supporting organizations during the Kirchner (2003-2015) and Workers’ Party administrations (2003-2016). The issue of activist training is relevant if we consider the paradoxical survival of political and partisan activism in a context of electoral volatility and leaders circumventing parties to establish a direct political bond with citizens. Also, while early political socialization has been given considerable attention in the literature, the issue of internal political training – once people have become members of an organization – has not. The findings show a reconfiguration of what activist training used to convey in the past, as well as impacts and challenges over training brought about by these organizations’ access to government.