Immigration and Anarchism in Buenos Aires
A change that occured in South America, especially in Argentina, was an influx of immigration to the country. This change was mostly seen in the middle and lower classes of society. The working class of people was starting to fill up with people from new lands, mostly from places like Italy, Russia, and France. “Numerous immigrant professionals and clerical workers also arrived. By 1914 at least twenty percent of employed Argentine immigrants had entered the middle sectors of society, and Europeans held approximately forty-six percent of the republic’s middle-sector positions.” These people from foreign places were making Buenos Aires their home, taking advantage of the opportunity to work hard and move up.
Immigrants filled the streets and people were able to move up in society, following much hard work and patience. “Between 1895 and 1914 approximately one-fifth of that country ‘s urban working-class population was able to enter the expanding middle groups.” This was incredible for the economy as well as Argentina quickly became a large exporter in immigrant dominant industry, “Other immigrants brought technical skills and entrepreneurial abilities to Argentina. European business men prospered and by 1914 owned seventy-two percent of the nation’s commercial houses, as well as the bulk of Argentine industry, still in the initial stages of development.”
Workers Union Members Gathered
While immigrants brought essential human capital to Argentina, and also were able to become successful, brought certain ideals with them that shook the city, and country as a whole. A main idea that immigrants, mostly from Italy, brought was Anarchism:
“The militant Italian anarchist Pedro Gori, for example, organized anarchist syndicates and founded working-class newspapers during his sojourn in Argentina between 1898 and 1902. By the latter year, the anarchists had begun to organize Buenos Aires’ huge unskilled laboring class. Socialist-affiliated unions generally appealed only to railroad workers, skilled laborers.”
Anarchism essentially rejects large government and would prefer to self-govern; essentially they rebel against authority, and in some cases will use violent acts in order to tackle their goals. People like Pedro Gori engrained these beliefs in the immigrant population, who at the time dominated the labor industry. “Most notably, Argentina is widely quoted, along with Spain, as one of the countries where anarchist and/or anarcho-syndicalist ideology and practice dominated the labour movement.” The movement lead to massive strikes, “Far from being an isolated conflict, the great railroad strike was part of a cycle of labor mobilization that unfolded during the first presidency of Hipólito Yrigoyen (1916–1922). The leader of the Radical Party came into power as a result of his victory in the first national elections under mandatory universal male suffrage in Argentina.” We see a lot of social unrest, and that is well represented in all of the plays, on this page. It was a time of great change across the world, and Buenos Aires was not left out.
How this relates to Gracia Plena
Julio Escobar, the author of this play, was an Anarchist and he embeds this viewpoint in throughout the play. If we look at rebelling against authority as a theme of the play, it opens a gateway to some “anarchy”. Mecha is one of the characters of the play that, in part, displays anarchist motifs. For example, she defies her gender role of the time period, and yells back at her husband with fiery comebacks. While subtle, it shines light on the willingness to rebel, which is something that cannot be taught, the desire to live the way that you want without restriction takes courage.
Maria Theresa also demonstrates readiness to rebel against her authority, her husband. Throughout the plays there are spots of her complaining about her situation to other people, and then at the end of the play when, after being beaten, takes his out with scissors. She has had enough of the oppression and longing that came from her life and she did something about it. Also in the play, there are immigrant characters such as Nato who is from Italy. And in the notes of the play, it says how there is much ‘lunfardo’ which is the slang used by immigrants and people of the working and middle classes.
Palacio’s Law (Ley Palacios)
Alfredo Palacios, Argentine Socialist Politician
“The person who in any way promotes or facilitates the prostitution or corruption of minors, to satisfy the wishes of others, even with the consent of the victim, will be punished with three to six years of penitentiary if the woman is older than eighteen; with six to ten years of the same penalty if the victim, male or female, is older than twelve and younger than eighteen; and if it is less than twelve years, the maximum penalty may be extended up to fifteen years.”
In the play Palacio’s Law is effected with Mecha:
Nato: Are they going to put her in jail?
Gutierrez: For now no, but the parents of the minor are totally inflexible on this.
Nato: What sentence is there for the crime against minors?
Gutierrez: Around three years. The crime falls under Palacios’ law.
Nato: So sad, and just for helping out a friend
Gutierrez: From what I understand, they were services she ‘offered’
The play notes that Mecha will most likely receive 3 years for the crime she committed, which would be the penalty in real life as the Law notes.
Women Prison System
Due to the enforcement of European prison reform movement, prisons for men were drastically improved. Male criminals were in a way treated as victim of their crimes. They were there to redeem their sin instead of being punished.
Women on the other hand did not have the same kind of reform. Instead, their prison system was mostly run by nuns, known as the Good Shepherd. This mainly because of gender discrimination. At the same time, women were only accounted 3% to 18% of total arrested. Women prison were very unsanitized and over crowded. Some female prisoners were sent to the special areas in male prisons to work at “female jobs” such as cooking, sewing, and cleaning in order to free up more space.
In 1921, Article 10 stated that women who had to serve less than 6 months, at the age of 60 or older, or sick can serve their sentence through house arrest.
Female prisons was also sometimes the shelter for female orphans and single mothers. This was believed to be one of the reason why prostitution was booming in Argentina in that time period as innocent young girls and desperate single mothers were co-living with the same people that violated Palacio’s laws. This could be the reason why Maria couldn’t keep her baby.
In Argentina, abortion and attempted abortion were illegal. So the action of Juan Carlos should have been punishable by law but instead, it was Maria that was being punished for injuring him in order to protect her baby.