L'étranger Dans La Formation De La Citoyenneté Argentine

Abstract

This article examines the fundamental and paradoxical role of the "foreigner" in the shaping of Argentine nationhood and citizenship during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Facing the challenge of establishing a modern republican order, enlightened Argentine elites—most notably represented by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Juan Bautista Alberdi—framed citizenship in opposition to an internal "Other" associated with backwardness or "barbarism" (the indigenous population and the gaucho). To bridge this divide, the nation’s founders championed a policy of massive European immigration, viewing immigrants as a direct vector of modern mentalities, work ethics, and civilizing values.

Furthermore, the paper explores how Argentine positivism—particularly through the psychiatric and sociological frameworks of José Ingenieros—utilized science, medicine, and public education to codify and control citizenship standards while identifying social deviances. Drawing on philosophical concepts of hospitality (Immanuel Kant, Jacques Derrida), the article critically addresses the enduring tensions between cosmopolitan openness, the integration of foreign populations, and the assimilationist demands of the state building project.