Razor Thin Win: The 1972 Constitution Ballot, Campaign, Ratification & the Courts -- Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson & Mick McKeon “In the Crucible of Change”

Beyond the challenge of crafting a new state Constitution that empowered the people and modernized and opened up state and local government in Montana, the Constitutional Convention delegates, as they signed the final document, looked forward to the arduous task of getting it ratified by the electorate in a short ten week period between the end of the convention on March 24 and the ratification election of June 6, 1972. While all 100 delegates signed the draft Constitution, not all supported its adoption. But the planning about how to get it adopted went back to the actions of the Convention itself, which carefully crafted a ballot that kept “hot political issues” from potentially killing the entire document at the polls. As a result, three side issues were presented to the electorate on the ballot. People could vote for or against those side issues and still vote to ratify the entire document. Thus, the questions of legalizing gambling, having a unicameral legislature and retaining the death penalty were placed separately on the ballot (gambling passed, as did the retention of the death penalty, but the concept of a one-house legislature was defeated). Once the ballot structure was set, delegates who supported the new Constitution organized a grassroots, locally focused effort to secure ratification – thought hampered by a MT Supreme Court decision on April 28 that they could not expend $45,000 in public monies that they had set aside for voter education. They cobbled together about $10,000 of private money and did battle with the established political forces, led by the MT Farm Bureau, MT Stockgrowers’ Assn. and MT Contractors Assn., on the question of passage. Narrow passage of the main document led to an issue over certification and a Montana Supreme Court case challenging the ratification vote. After a 3-2 State Supreme Court victory, supporters of the Constitution then had to defend the election results again before the federal courts, also a successful effort. Montana finally had a new progressive State Constitution that empowered the people, but the path to it was not clear and simple and the win was razor thin. The story of that razor thin win is discussed in this chapter by the two youngest delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention, Mae Nan Ellingson of Missoula and Mick McKeon, then of Anaconda. Both recognized “Super Lawyers in their later professional practices were also significant players in the Constitutional Convention itself and actively participated in its campaign for ratification. As such, their recollections of the effort provide an insider’s perspective of the struggle to change Montana for the better through the creation and adoption of a new progressive state Constitution “In the Crucible of Change.” Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson was born Mae Nan Windham in Mineral Wells, TX and graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1965 and Weatherford College in Weatherford, TX in 1967. Mae Nan was the youngest delegate at the 1972 Convention from Missoula. She moved to Missoula in 1967 and received her BA in Political Science with Honors from the University of MT in 1970. She was a young widow known by her late husband’s surname of Robinson while attending UM graduate school under the tutelage of noted Professor Ellis Waldron when he persuaded her to run for the Constitutional Convention. Coming in a surprising second in the delegate competition in Missoula County she was named one of the Convention’s “Ten Outstanding Constitutional Convention Delegates,” an impressive feat at such a young age. She was 24 at the time, the youngest person to serve at the ConCon, and one of 19 women out of 100 delegates. In the decade before the Convention, there were never more than three women Legislators in any session, usually one or two. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, a Pi Sigma Alpha political science honorary, and a Phi Alpha Theta historical honorary. At the Convention, she led proposals for the state's bill of rights, particularly related to equal rights for women. For years, Ellingson kept a copy of the preamble to the Constitution hanging in her office; while all the delegates had a chance to vote on the wording, she and delegate Bob Campbell are credited with the language in the preamble. During the convention, she had an opportunity that opened the door to her later career as an attorney. A convention delegate suggested to her that she should go to law school. Several offered to help, but at the time she couldn't go to school. Her mom had died in Texas, and she ended up with a younger brother and sister to raise in Missoula. She got a job teaching, but about a year later, intrigued with the idea of pursuing the law as a career, she called the man back to ask about the offer. Eventually another delegate, Dave Drum of Billings, sponsored her tuition at the UM School of Law. After receiving her JD with Honors (including the Law Review and Moot Court) from the UM Law School Ellingson worked for the Missoula city attorney's office for six years (1977-83), and she took on landmark projects. During her tenure, Missoula became the first city to issue open space bonds, a project that introduced her to Dorsey & Whitney. The city secured its first easement on Mount Sentinel, and it created the trail along the riverfront with a mix of playing fields and natural vegetation. She also helped develop a sign ordinance for the city of Missoula. She ended up working as bond counsel for Dorsey & Whitney, and she opened up the firm's full-fledged Missoula office after commuting a couple of years to its Great Falls office. She was a partner at Dorsey Whitney, working there from 1983 until her retirement in 2012. The area of law she practiced there is a narrow specialty - it requires knowledge of constitutional law, state and local government law, and a slice of federal tax law - but for Ellingson it meant working on great public projects – schools, sewer systems, libraries, swimming pools, ire trucks. At the state level, she helped form the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, a pooled insurance group for cities. She's shaped MT’s tax increment law, and she was a fixture in the MT Legislature when they were debating equal rights. As a bond lawyer, though, Ellingson considers her most important work for the state to be setting up the Intercap Program that allowed local governments to borrow money from the state at a low interest rate. She has been a frequent speaker at the League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties, and the Rural Water Users Association workshops on topics related to municipal finance, as well as workshops sponsored by the DNRC, the Water and Sewer Agencies Coordination Team, and the Montana State University Local Government Center. In 2002, she received an outstanding service award from the Montana Rural Water Users Association. In addition to being considered an expert on Montana state and constitutional law, local government law and local government finance, she is a frequent teacher at the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar and the NABL Bond Attorney’s Workshop. For over 30 years Mae Nan has participated in the drafting of legislation in Montana for state and local finance matters. She has served on the Board of Directors of NABL, as Chairman of its Education Committee, was elected as an initial fellow in 1995 to the American College of Bond Counsel, and was recognized as a Super Lawyer in the Rocky Mountain West. Mae Nan was admitted to practice before the MT and US Supreme Courts, was named one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” by Chambers USA (Rank 1), a Mountain States Super Lawyer in 2007 and is listed in Best Lawyers in America; she is a member and former Board Member of NABL, a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel and a member of the Board of Visitors of the UM Law School. Mae Nan is also a philanthropist who serves on boards and applies her intelligence to many organizations, such as the Missoula Art Museum. [Much of this biography was drawn from a retirement story in the Missoulian and the Dorsey Whitney web site.] Mick McKeon, born in Anaconda in 1946, is a 4th generation Montanan whose family roots in this state go back to the 1870’s. In 1968 he graduated from Notre Dame with a BA in Communications and received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Montana Law School in 1971. Right after graduating from law school, Mick was persuaded by his father, longtime State Senator Luke McKeon, and his uncle, Phillips County Attorney Willis McKeon, to run for delegate to Montana’s Constitutional Convention and was elected to represent Deer Lodge, Philipsburg, Powell, and part of Missoula Counties. Along with a coalition of delegates from Butte and Anaconda, he fought through the new Constitution to eliminate the legal strangle hold, often called “the copper collar,” that corporate interests -- the Anaconda Company and its business & political allies -- had over state government for nearly 100 years. The New York Times called Montana’s Constitutional Convention a “prairie revolution.” After helping secure the ratification of the new Constitution, Mick began his practice of law in Anaconda where he engaged in general practice for nearly 20 years. Moving to Butte in 1991, Mick focused has practice in personal injury law, representing victims of negligence and corporate wrongdoing in both Montana district courts and federal court. As such, he participated in some of the largest cases in the history of the state. In 1992 he and his then law partner Rick Anderson obtained a federal court verdict of $11.5 million -- the largest verdict in MT for many years. Mick’s efforts on behalf of injured victims have been recognized by many legal organizations and societies. Recently, Mick was invited to become a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers - 600 of the top lawyers in the world. Rated as an American Super Lawyer, he has continuously been named one of the Best Lawyers in America, and an International Assn. of Trial Lawyers top 100 Trial Lawyer. In 2005, he was placed as one of Montana’s top 4 Plaintiff’s lawyers by Law Dragon. Mick is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has the highest rating possible from Martindale-Hubble. Mick was awarded the Montana Trial Lawyers Public Service Award and provided pro bono assistance to needy clients for his entire career. Mick’s law practice, which he now shares with his son Michael, is limited to representing individuals who have been injured in accidents, concentrating on cases against insurance companies, corporations, medical providers and hospitals. Mick resides in Butte with his wife Carol, a Butte native. Mick, Carol, Michael and another son, Matthew, who graduated from Dartmouth College and was recently admitted to the Montana bar, enjoy as much of their time together in Butte and at their place on Flathead Lake.

The Other Side of the Doors: Butte & Beyond -- Congressman Pat Williams “In the Crucible of Change”

Pat Williams emerged from the Mining City of Butte, Montana with a sense of grassroots, people-oriented politics. His inherent belief in the power of ordinary citizens carried him through the Montana Legislature and into Congress for a record-setting period. The accomplishments of his long career partially obscured his innate progressive and populist instinct that is reflective of the period of “in the Crucible of Change.” This film addresses Pat’s early years when his progressive instincts and activities resulted in pushback from the giant Anaconda Company which had held Montana hostage for 75 years. Pat is joined for part of the film by former campaign staffer, and now prominent media consultant, Michael Fenenbock for reflections on Pat’s 1978 “Door-to-Door to Congress” campaign, which demonstrated the power of his belief in the people on the other side of the doors. Pat Williams (b. 1937) rose from teaching grade school in his hometown of Butte, MT, to serving for the longest number of consecutive terms (9 terms, 18 years) in the US House of Representatives of anyone in Montana history. Pat was a member of the National Guard and attended UM in Missoula and William Jewel College, graduating from the University of Denver. Pat also served in the Montana legislature for 2 terms (1966 & 1968 elections). In 1969. Pat helped his legislative seat-mate John Melcher get elected as Montana’s Eastern District Congressman in the Special Election that June. Pat went to Washington DC as Melcher’s Executive Assistant. Upon returning to Montana, Pat headed up the Montana offices of the innovative Mountain Plains Family Education Program. In 1974, Pat ran unsuccessfully for Montana’s Western District Congressional seat in a three-way race with former Congressman Arnold Olsen and state Legislator Max Baucus. After the drafting and passage of the 1972 Montana Constitution, Pat was named a member of Montana’s first-ever Reapportionment Commission. In 1978 he successfully ran for Congress, conducting a massive grass-roots door-to-door campaign of 1½ years, reaching 50,000 doors. In a hotly contested 6-way Democratic primary, Pat won going away and also handily won the general election. Pat served in Congress from January, 1979 until January of 1997, 14 years representing the Western District and 4 years representing the entire state. Upon his retirement from Congress, in 1997 Williams returned to Montana where has been an instructor at the University of Montana and Senior Fellow and Regional Policy Associate at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West. He is a former member of the Montana Board of Regents and serves on a number of national education-related boards. In Congress Pat was a Deputy Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives and sat on committees on: Budget, Natural Resources, Education and Labor, and Agriculture. Pat’s leadership helped pass trailblazing legislation to assist hard-working middle-class families and ensure opportunities for every child. Pat’s fingerprints are on many pieces of important legislation, including the College Middle Income Assistance Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Toddlers and Childhood Disability Act, the Library Services and Construction Act, and the Museum Services Act. Pat successfully sponsored the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area and the Rattlesnake Wilderness area, helped save the Bob Marshall Wilderness from oil and gas exploration, and helped ban geothermal energy drilling near the borders of Yellowstone National Park. As Chairman of The Post-Secondary Education Committee, he protected the National Endowment for the Arts from elimination, a remarkable undertaking during a very trying time for the Agency. Pat worked tirelessly with Tribal College Leaders to build Montana’s seven Tribal Colleges. He was also responsible for the legislation that created The American Conservation Corps, which became the Corporation for National Service, giving thousands of America’s young people a chance to serve their country and pursue higher education. Pat lives in Missoula with his wife Carol Griffith Williams, former Montana Senate Majority Leader. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Montana In the 1970’s: Seen Through a Reporter’s Eyes -- Chuck Johnson “In the Crucible of Change”

It has been said that “journalism is the first rough draft of history.” If that be the case, much of Montana’s history since 1970 was first written by Chuck Johnson. He has covered the activities of 20 regular sessions of the Legislature plus an untold number of Special Sessions, the Constitutional Convention, nine Governors, eight US Senators and seven US Congressmen. Primary elections, general elections, state and national Party Conventions have been seen by Montanans through Johnson’s prism. Big and little news about policy, insights about politics, and a sense of the people behind the news (and history) has flowed from Chuck Johnson’s pen. Johnson’s first decade as a journalist coincides substantially with the period of “In the Crucible of Change.” Having been one of those who wrote the first draft of much of the history in the series “In the Crucible of Change,” and as “Dean of Montana’s Capitol Reporters,” Chuck’s reflections and insights about the period are conveyed in this film with a maturity and understanding that can only come from one who has spent decades honing is craft to perfection. Chuck Johnson is a journalist who has covered Montana state government and politics since 1970. Since 1992, he has been bureau chief of the Lee Newspapers State Bureau in Helena, writing for the Lee daily newspapers: the Billings Gazette, The Montana Standard (Butte), Helena Independent Record, The Missoulian, and the Ravalli Republic (Hamilton). Johnson, a Great Falls native raised in Helena, was exposed to politics early on when he was taken up to the Legislature one night to watch the debate on the raging issue of the day--whether stores should be allowed to give trading stamps to customers. He received a B.A. in journalism and an M.A. history from the University of Montana. Johnson spent a year studying politics and economics at Oxford University in England on a Rotary Foundation scholarship. He previously was chief of the Great Falls Tribune Capitol Bureau and worked for the Associated Press, Missoulian and Helena Independent Record. Chuck and his wife Pat reside in Helena.

Remembering Lee Metcalf

Abstract Montana's Lee Metcalf was an extraordinary Montana leader with an unbelievable record of accomplishment fighting for the little people against the forces of economic and political power. The public memory is so short that this film will serve to help reacquaint Lee & Donna Metcalf to most of those who were around during their time. But it will also provide an opportunity for new generations to receive a perspective of an important leader from an important time. (Language from YouTube version of the film, written and provided by Executive Producer Evan Barrett) Lee Warren Metcalf (January 28, 1911 – January 12, 1978) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1953–1961) and a U.S. Senator (1961–1978) from Montana. He was permanent acting President pro tempore of the Senate, the only person to hold that position, from 1963 until his death in 1978. U.S. House of Representatives During his tenure in the House, Metcalf served on the Education and Labor Committee (1953–1959), Interior and Insular Affairs Committee (1955–1959), Select Astronautics and Space Exploration Committee (1958), and Ways and Means Committee (1959–1960). He became known as one of Congress's "Young Turks" who promoted liberal domestic social legislation and reform of congressional procedures. He introduced legislation to provide health care to the elderly ten years before the creation of Medicare. He earned the nickname "Mr. Education" after sponsoring a comprehensive bill providing for federal aid to education. He also voted against legislation that would have raised grazing permits on federal lands, and led the opposition to a bill that would have swapped forested public lands for cutover private lands. He was elected chairman of the Democratic Study Group in 1959. U. S. Senate Regarded as "a pioneer of the conservation movement", Metcalf worked to protect the natural environment and regulate utilities. He helped pass the Wilderness Act of 1964, and supported the creation of the Great Bear Wilderness and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. In 1962, he introduced a "Save Our Streams" bill to preserve natural recreation facilities and protect fish and wildlife from being destroyed by highway construction. He was a longtime member of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission. He was also active on the issue of education. He was a leading supporter of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the effort to extend the G.I. Bill's educational benefits to a new generation of veterans, and the development of legislation to improve federally-aided vocational education.[1] The Peace Corps was established under leadership of Metcalf and Senator Mansfield. In 1983, by act of Congress, the Lee Metcalf Wilderness area was created in southwestern Montana in honor of the late Congressman. The Great Bear Wilderness and Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness areas were also created as a result of Metcalf's efforts in Congress, in addition to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. Metcalf was ranked number 15 on a list of the 100 Most Influential Montanans of the Century by the Missoulian newspaper. This text is courtesy of Wikipedia®, a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

Pizarrón: una escritura con gruesa letra y tiza blanca sobre la América Hispana

Nos proponemos conmemorar aquí los cien años del nacimiento de uno de los destacados intelectuales del siglo XX, cuya obra fuera ampliamente reconocida en nuestro ámbito cultural: nos referimos al escritor venezolano Arturo Uslar Pietri (1906- 2001) quien dedicara su larga vida a transitar diversos caminos del saber. Publicó su primer artículo periodístico a los catorce años; el último, el de la despedida, en su columna del diario El Nacional, aparecería en enero de 1998. Habían transcurrido setenta y ocho años. Cumplirá este aspecto relevante de su producción desde la mirada que le imprime el comunicador social, tarea que se suma a su labor de educador, en los escritos de la columna semanal que titulara Pizarrón. Dejará registrados así destacados artículos de opinión que darán a conocer las ideas de nuestros grandes hombres, entre los que se encuentra el propio Uslar, al tiempo que contribuyen a formar la opinión pública desde las columnas de la prensa y de este modo procura testimoniar tanto nuestra historia política como los registros más destacados de nuestra cultura.

La cultura política en Corrientes

En esta tesis se aborda la historia política correntina del período 1909- 1930, centrándose en la actuación de los partidos políticos, en las elecciones y prácticas políticas y electorales con el objeto de contribuir a la reconstrucción y comprensión de la cultura política provincial y aportar al conocimiento de la historia política argentina de esa etapa. La provincia de Corrientes, constituye un caso peculiar en el contexto nacional, al convertirse en la única que no tuvo un gobierno radical en todo el período posterior a la sanción de la ley electoral de 1912. Lo que aquí se trató de demostrar fue que los mecanismos que permitieron la permanencia de los gobiernos conservadores en esa provincia fueron tanto institucionales como culturales. Entre ellos, se destacan la adecuación al nuevo sistema político por medio de una reforma de la Constitución Provincial que confirmó el sistema de representación proporcional en lugar del sistema de lista incompleta y la reorganización de los partidos conservadores a través de la instauración de la política del acuerdo. Así, la permanencia de éste sector en el gobierno durante todo el período analizado, estuvo más vinculada con la puesta en práctica de estos mecanismos, que con el incremento de la participación del electorado o la influencia de elementos discursivos o ideológicos.

Lucha obrera, conflicto sindical y organización armada : El caso de la Juventud Trabajadora Peronista de Propulsora Siderúrgica [1973-1976]

El presente trabajo aborda el caso de la Juventud Trabajadora Peronista en la empresa Propulsora Siderúrgica de la localidad de Ensenada en el período 1973-1976, constituyendo éste un período clave en la historia política argentina en tanto significó el retorno del peronismo al poder luego de dieciocho años de proscripción legal. Enmarcada en la extensa constelación de experiencias de la ?nueva izquierda? que irrumpe con fuerza en Argentina a partir de fines de los años sesenta, y específicamente en la amplia experiencia de las fuerzas peronistas revolucionarias dentro de ella, la Juventud Trabajadora Peronista aparece como un espacio político-sindical especialmente rico para el estudio y análisis en el campo de la historia reciente argentina y dentro de ella de las prácticas sindicales radicalizadas. Fundada en 1973, la JTP nace como frente de masas sindical de la organización armada Montoneros. Fundada en el contexto histórico, político y social de retorno de Perón al país y de crisis del gobierno peronista, ésta seráparte de la emergencia de particulares formas de vínculo social en el que se entrecruzan elementos ligados a la práctica de los militantes obreros, sus agrupaciones sindicales, el proceso de radicalización general del período y la singular participación de las organizaciones armadas peronistas. Contemplado el entrecruzamiento entre organizaciones armadas revolucionarias, organizaciones sindicales combativas y la radicalización de sectores de la clase trabajadora, nuestro trabajo enfatiza la capacidad política obrera para imponer condiciones al capital, al gobierno y a sectores burocráticos del sindicalismo. Es en estos tres frentes de combate en los que se verán inmersos los sectores radicalizados de la clase obrera argentina que buscamos poner en un primer plano a lo largo de esta investigación

Permanencia y superación del '80 en dos escritores de 'entre siglos' : Enrique Loncán y Eduardo L. Holmberg

Si bien el '80 ha sido trabajado y leído desde distintos contextos socio históricos y literarios, la continuidad y resignificación de su 'corpus' y sus legados, deja abierto un espacio para la crítica, con una cantidad considerable de autores que han sido lateralizados, en muchos casos, por lecturas convencionales. Enrique Loncán es un autor periférico de comienzos del siglo XX al igual que Eduardo Holmberg, a punto tal que su obra Olimpio Pitango de Monalia recién se publicó en el año 1994. Según Arturo Cancela, 'Con Enrique Loncán, se cierra para siempre el ciclo de la literatura mundana comenzado por la generación del 80, en cuyos cánones se inscriben su personalidad, sus gustos y su literatura.? Heredero o epígono de escritores como Mansilla en el Sud América, de Lucio V. López, de Eduardo Wilde y de Miguel Cané, pone en práctica su versatilidad discursiva frecuentando el periodismo, la oratoria, la política y la literatura, a la vez que se desempeña en la cátedra universitaria, el Congreso Nacional y la diplomacia. Eduardo Holmberg, por otra parte, pertenece a la saga de los escritores conocidos a medias y muchas veces, por esta misma causa, ha sido motivo de una simplificación oportunista de su significación, sujeto a una lectura rápida, proclive a juicios no del todo probados. La Tesis está estructurada en dos partes y cada una tiene como eje el estudio de uno de los dos autores citados. La primera está dedicada a la obra de Enrique Loncán, particularmente Palabras de la derrota [1919], He dicho [Brindis y discursos] [1925] y Aldea Millonaria [1933], y la segunda aborda dos conferencias 'Carlos Alberto Darwin', 'Pinceladas descriptivas' y los dos últimos textos escritos por Eduardo Holmberg, Lin Calel (1910) y Olimpio Pitango de Monalia [1912-1915]. El título de la Tesis, Permanencia y superación del '80 en dos escritores de 'entre-siglos', adelanta sus dos hipótesis centrales: la 'permanencia' o continuidad poética e ideológica del '80 en los trabajos de Loncán, y la 'superación' del mismo período por la práctica de escritura de Eduardo Holmberg. El cruce de ambos autores y sus respectivas obras pone de relieve un doble movimiento, el regreso al pasado por parte de quien desarrolló su carrera literaria durante los primeros cuarenta años del siglo XX [Loncán], y la evolución hacia el futuro de Holmberg que se desarrolló literariamente a lo largo del '80. Este doble movimiento 'el retroceso hacia las fuentes por parte de Loncán y el 'progreso' rupturista de Holmberg- mantiene una relación dialéctica con la historia social y política del país en el primer caso, y una relación con la historia y con la filosofía de la historia en el segundo, sobre todo en Olimpio Pitango de Monalia, en la medida en que deconstruye la historiografía liberal oficial

El descubrimiento del pueblo : Los discursos de la elite porteña frente a los sectores subalternos entre fines del siglo XVIII y los inicios del siglo XIX

Análisis del discurso de la élite porteña, entre finales del siglo XVIII y principios del siglo XIX, en torno a la aparición de los sectores populares, como vehículo de legitimación política

Publicaciones periódicas nacionalistas de derecha : Las tres etapas de Azul y Blanco [Azul y Blanco 1956-1960. Segunda República 1961-1963, Azul y Blanco -segunda época- 1966-1969]

El estudio del semanario Azul y Blanco [importante referente intelectual y político del nacionalismo de derecha] y el análisis de las dos generaciones de intelectuales nacionalistas que se hicieron cargo de su edición desde 1956 hasta 1969 condujeron a la descripción de un nacionalismo de derecha de un nuevo cuno. Este se vio influenciado principalmente por la proscripción del peronismo, la Revolución Cubana, la nacionalización de la nueva izquierda, la promulgación de la encíclica papal Populorum Progressio y las sucesivas políticas autoritarias y liberales de las presidencias de Aramburu, Frondizi y Onganía. Así, al igual que sucediera con otros actores políticos de la época, el nacionalismo que representaba este seminario vio reestructurada su identidad política a partir de un proceso de actualización de sus discursos y tradiciones a un contexto lingüístico cambiante. En este sentido, este nacionalismo de la década del sesenta se caracterizó por un acercamiento gradual y constante hacia los sectores populares, hacia la izquierda nacional y el peronismo. Azul y Blanco y las trayectorias intelectuales y políticas de su grupo son testigos de este proceso de transformación de adaptación del nacionalismo de derecha los nuevos lenguajes políticos

Perón : La construcción del mito político 1943-1955

Pocos líderes de la historia política contemporánea han generado tantos estudios e impactado de forma tan contundente en los medios de comunicación como la figura emblemática de Juan Domingo Perón. Fundador de un movimiento masivo que construyó, más allá de textos políticos deliberados, una constelación de discursos mediáticos y artísticos. Los alcances semánticos de estas construcciones implosionan, en el campo simbólico, con un vocabulario e imágenes que difícilmente podrán ser desterrados de la memoria de los argentinos. Resulta sugestivo caminar a través de esta senda de amores y de odios. Por un lado a través del análisis de los epítetos descalificatorios que pueblan el diccionario de los antiperonistas. Por el otro, desandando el camino de los mitos, las versiones posmodernas del fenómeno peronista y escuchando las voces quienes adhirieron al movimiento y recrearon sus pasiones tanto en su producción testimonial, ficcional e historiográfica. En esta investigación se analizaron las formas con las que el peronismo constituyó el mito de origen y, a la vez, un mito social popular, en tanto promovió un armazón representacional utópico desde el cual ha sabido generar sus propias creencias

Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias : Orígenes y desarrollo de una particular conjunción entre marxismo, peronismo y lucha armada [1960-1973]

Desde mediados de la década del cincuenta hasta la última dictadura militar, la Argentina vivió un período de gran conflictividad social y política. Particularmente desde el Cordobazo de 1969, amplios sectores de la clase trabajadora, el campo cultural, la iglesia y el movimiento estudiantil protagonizaron un intenso proceso de politización, dando lugar a un conjunto de movimientos de oposición de diverso orden. Las organizaciones armadas, al desafiar el monopolio estatal de la violencia legítima y establecer diversos lazos con el movimiento de protesta social más amplio, fueron uno de los actores destacados de ese proceso. Entre ellas, las 'Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias' [FAR] condensan varias problemáticas de relevancia en el período: el proceso de identificación con el peronismo de numerosos sectores de izquierda, la reivindicación de la violencia como forma de intervención política y la opción por la lucha armada como modalidad específica de ponerla en práctica. Pese a su importancia, hasta el momento no se había realizado ningún trabajo académico específico sobre esta organización. La presente tesis analiza los orígenes y el desarrollo de las FAR considerando el período que va desde los primeros sesenta, en que comenzaron a perfilarse sus grupos fundadores, hasta las elecciones presidenciales del 11 de marzo de 1973. Desde entonces no sólo cambia notablemente la dinámica política nacional, sino que la realidad de la organización ya está signada por el proceso de fusión con Montoneros, que fue anunciada de modo público en octubre de ese año. El problema de investigación articula dos ejes analíticos. Por un lado, el proceso de identificación de las FAR con el peronismo, cuyos antecedentes se remontan a las sucesivas reinterpretaciones realizadas por sus grupos fundadores sobre el fenómeno. El segundo, con su dinámica de funcionamiento como organización político-militar de actuación nacional y urbana, gestada al calor de los cambios de estrategias que se plantearon aquellos grupos fundadores para lograr el proceso de liberación nacional y social que impulsaban. Ambas líneas de análisis implican, además, adentrarse en los modos en que la organización concibió sus vínculos con sectores más amplios de la sociedad, particularmente con aquellos que buscaba movilizar. Para realizar la tesis se apeló a una estrategia metodológica cualitativa. Se relevaron fuentes escritas [diarios y revistas de alcance nacional, documentos de las FAR y de otras organizaciones con que se vincularon] y se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a ex-miembros de la organización

Permanencia y superación del '80 en dos escritores de 'entre siglos' : Enrique Loncán y Eduardo L. Holmberg

Si bien el '80 ha sido trabajado y leído desde distintos contextos socio históricos y literarios, la continuidad y resignificación de su 'corpus' y sus legados, deja abierto un espacio para la crítica, con una cantidad considerable de autores que han sido lateralizados, en muchos casos, por lecturas convencionales. Enrique Loncán es un autor periférico de comienzos del siglo XX al igual que Eduardo Holmberg, a punto tal que su obra Olimpio Pitango de Monalia recién se publicó en el año 1994. Según Arturo Cancela, 'Con Enrique Loncán, se cierra para siempre el ciclo de la literatura mundana comenzado por la generación del 80, en cuyos cánones se inscriben su personalidad, sus gustos y su literatura.? Heredero o epígono de escritores como Mansilla en el Sud América, de Lucio V. López, de Eduardo Wilde y de Miguel Cané, pone en práctica su versatilidad discursiva frecuentando el periodismo, la oratoria, la política y la literatura, a la vez que se desempeña en la cátedra universitaria, el Congreso Nacional y la diplomacia. Eduardo Holmberg, por otra parte, pertenece a la saga de los escritores conocidos a medias y muchas veces, por esta misma causa, ha sido motivo de una simplificación oportunista de su significación, sujeto a una lectura rápida, proclive a juicios no del todo probados. La Tesis está estructurada en dos partes y cada una tiene como eje el estudio de uno de los dos autores citados. La primera está dedicada a la obra de Enrique Loncán, particularmente Palabras de la derrota [1919], He dicho [Brindis y discursos] [1925] y Aldea Millonaria [1933], y la segunda aborda dos conferencias 'Carlos Alberto Darwin', 'Pinceladas descriptivas' y los dos últimos textos escritos por Eduardo Holmberg, Lin Calel (1910) y Olimpio Pitango de Monalia [1912-1915]. El título de la Tesis, Permanencia y superación del '80 en dos escritores de 'entre-siglos', adelanta sus dos hipótesis centrales: la 'permanencia' o continuidad poética e ideológica del '80 en los trabajos de Loncán, y la 'superación' del mismo período por la práctica de escritura de Eduardo Holmberg. El cruce de ambos autores y sus respectivas obras pone de relieve un doble movimiento, el regreso al pasado por parte de quien desarrolló su carrera literaria durante los primeros cuarenta años del siglo XX [Loncán], y la evolución hacia el futuro de Holmberg que se desarrolló literariamente a lo largo del '80. Este doble movimiento 'el retroceso hacia las fuentes por parte de Loncán y el 'progreso' rupturista de Holmberg- mantiene una relación dialéctica con la historia social y política del país en el primer caso, y una relación con la historia y con la filosofía de la historia en el segundo, sobre todo en Olimpio Pitango de Monalia, en la medida en que deconstruye la historiografía liberal oficial