Julia Fierman

My book project, Peronism Is a Sentiment: Affect and Ideology in Argentine Populism, examines relationships of fellowship (compañerismo) and accusations of betrayal between committed activists, or “militants,” loyal to an enduring populist movement known as “Peronism,” which has largely defined Argentine political culture since 1945. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork carried out with self-described Peronist “militants” between 2012 and 2022, this book is a distinctively anthropological intervention into the existing literature on populism, which, largely bereft of anthropological contributions, overly focuses on populism’s dependence on demonizing those named as enemies of “the people.” In contrast, my research on Peronist militancy shows that this literature has failed to account for the loving bonds of fellowship at the heart of Peronist and, more broadly, populist imaginaries. I argue that these affective relationships of fellowship are central to populism’s appeal. At the same time, I describe how populism’s proclivity towards demonizing rhetoric imbues fellowship with an inherent tenuousness, as Peronist militants are constantly preoccupied with the fealty of their supposedly beloved compañeros. Thus, Peronism Is a Sentiment illustrates how Peronist militants, and populist political agents across ideological affinities, create social worlds characterized by incomparably intense bonds of communion and a generalized environment of suspicion.