The (Im)possible Community. Consensus, Conflict and Collective Identity in Public Commemorations of the Coastal Region of the Rio de la Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Consenso, Conflicto e Identidad Colectiva en las Conmemoraciones Públicas de la Región Costera Bonaerense del Río de la Plata

Abstract

Public commemorations in the main settlements of the district of Punta Indio (Buenos Aires, Argentina) are built around two core repertoires: the military, related to the presence in the area of the oldest navy airfield in the region, and the “tradicionalista”, linked to the purported “rural” and “gaucho” traits of the Pampas. Both of them occupy a prominent place in the public presentation these settlements and its inhabitants make about themselves. Ethnographic evidence shows, however, that their effective deployment is fraught with tensions as well as specific attempts to deal with them, that make their presence felt in each and every public event. The following paper intends to show in which way and under which conditions these repertoires are mobilized in order to solve a set of conflictive tensions in an attempt to obtain identity, social and moral consensus through ritual devices.