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Working Class History

E115: Argentina uprising 2001, part 1

Working Class History

Working Class History

Society & Culture, Education, History

5.0 • 813 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Part 1 of a double episode about the 2001 uprising in Argentina, which toppled the government, and saw the spread of neighbourhood assemblies and factories taken over by workers. In conversation with Tomas Rothaus, a participant in the uprising and author of Argentina, a Tale of Two Utopias: Anarchism, Soccer, Neoliberalism.

Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes without ads, bonus episodes, two exclusive podcast series – Fireside Chats and Radical Reads – as well as free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
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Acknowledgements
  • Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands.
  • Episode graphic: protester in front of the Buenos Aires Obelisk, 20 December 2001. Public domain/Wikimedia Commons.
  • Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.
  • Edited by Jesse French

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In December 2001, a massive uprising took place in Buenos Aires that shook the whole of Argentina

0:07.0

and forced the president to flee for his safety.

0:10.0

In the days, weeks and months that followed, ordinary people set up neighborhood assemblies,

0:15.0

occupied land and took over factories to run them as worker cooperatives,

0:19.0

giving an image of a future that workers control.

0:22.8

This is working class history.

0:24.6

All the matthina, just upen alzata, oh, bella chow, bella, chow, bella, chow, bella, chow, bella, chow, chow, all the matino.

0:45.4

Before we start, a quick note to say that we're only able to continue making these podcasts

0:49.7

because of the support of our listeners on Patreon.

0:52.5

If you like what we do and want to help us with our work,

0:55.8

join us on patreon.com slash working class history,

0:59.2

where you can get benefits like early access to ad-free episodes,

1:03.2

exclusive bonus content, discounted books, merch and more.

1:07.3

For instance, Patreon supporters got early access to this episode without ads, and they also get exclusive access to our two Patreon-only podcast series, Radical Reads and Fireside Chat.

1:18.8

Our supporters can also listen to both parts for this double episode now, as well as two exclusive bonus episodes with more information and context.

1:28.7

Link in the show notes. You know, at some point we had either heard of that they were shooting live ammunition

1:33.9

as well as rubber bullets or we had already seen a body on the ground. We had to kind of take

1:39.6

cover every time we saw a rifle or hurt rifle fire because we no longer knew if what they were shooting

1:45.9

were rubber bullets or live ammunition.

1:48.2

At one point, we heard a cheer kind of go up randomly, and it was that the president had

1:54.1

resigned.

1:55.1

And not that much later, we heard a helicopter, and it was indeed the president being evacuated from a rooftop helicopter

...

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