Tracking the Transitional Demand for Legal Recall: The Foreclosing and Promise of Law in Argentina

Abstract

The article tracks the symbolic role that law plays in the varying phases of the transition to democracy in Argentina. It offers a descriptive and conceptual account of how the struggle for legal recall was structured against the force of containment wielded by the state. Focusing on the social demand that comes before Judge Cavallo’s 2001 ruling, which overturned the amnesty laws protecting the military from being prosecuted for past rights violations, the article concerns itself with how the resolve and desire for law are sustained. It thus reflects on how the unfulfilled promises for justice helped to shape a legacy, a pedagogical resource, which was utilized to contest the conciliatory politics and settlements brokered by the state.