Piquete
In Argentina, the practice of piquetes (picket lines) became one of the most powerful tactics for workers who lost their jobs due to the privatization of state-owned companies. Without unions to represent them, the workers grouped in different organizations and physically disrupted traffic on roads and bridges, interfering with the circulation of capital.
The picket line gave visibility to the protestors' claims (and drew attention to the fact that people in the thousands were being laid off due to the implementation of neoliberal policies). Picket lines also became a concrete tool to lever the power imbalance between those making financial decisions and those affected by them.
At a symbolic level, the picket constituted one of the sites where the situation of unemployment could be shared collectively; at a material level, it represented a spatial take over by defiant bodies burning tires to cut production roads.
The picket line gave visibility to the protestors' claims (and drew attention to the fact that people in the thousands were being laid off due to the implementation of neoliberal policies). Picket lines also became a concrete tool to lever the power imbalance between those making financial decisions and those affected by them.
At a symbolic level, the picket constituted one of the sites where the situation of unemployment could be shared collectively; at a material level, it represented a spatial take over by defiant bodies burning tires to cut production roads.
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