Politicization Processes and Political Engagement among Young Activists of Opposition Parties during the Kirchner’s Years. The cases of PRO and UCR in the City of Buenos Aires

Abstract

This article analyzes the processes of politicization and political engagement of youth activist who have joined two opposition parties during the Kirchner’s years in Argentina: Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) and Propuesta Republicana (PRO). Based on the narratives of 41 youth activists interviewed in depth, between 2013 and 2018 in the City of Buenos Aires, it examines their early ties to politics, the ways of entering into party activism, and the socio-political events that marked their first steps in these political parties. The article shows that UCR’s activists establish early ties to the political world and to their party. For this reason, family socialization and events of the party’s internal life have a greater weight in their engagement than socio-political context. PRO’s activists, on the other hand, establish later ties to politics and to their party. For them, anti-Kirchnerism plays a central role in their engagement and in their decision of joining the party.