Valeria Manzano

This dissertation studies how youth became a central cultural and political actor in 1960s and 1970s Argentina. It demonstrates that middle- and working-class young people, albeit in different ways, became the bearers of an Argentine cultural modernization by creating new practices, spaces, and styles of sociability, and by reshaping the realm of consumption. As a consequence of this process, young people also transformed the ways of experiencing gender relations and identities as well as radically changed sexual mores and practices. In addition, young people altered Argentine politics not only by creating and participating in youth political organizations but also by fostering a political culture of contestation that profoundly questioned the terms of citizenship and nationhood.

This study shows how youth became a central discursive category and a crucial cultural and political actor in 1960s and 1970s Argentina. It demonstrates that middle- and working-class youths, albeit in different ways, became the bearers of an Argentine cultural modernization by creating new practices, spaces, and styles of sociability, and by reshaping the realm of consumption. As a consequence of this process, youths also transformed the ways of experiencing gender relations, changed sexual mores and practices, and re-conceptualized the meanings of eroticism. Youths likewise altered Argentine politics not only by creating and participating in youth political organizations but also by fostering a political culture of contestation that questioned the terms of citizenship and nationhood.

Dissertation: "The Making of Youth in Argentina: Culture, Politics, and Sexuality, 1958 - 1976"