Archives and the Human Rights Movement: tensions, uses and disputes over the documents of the dictatorship

Abstract

In Argentina, the recent past has been the subject of intense social, political, and academic disputes. Two fundamental fields in this construction of the past are those of social memory and the archives of repression. Although both have contributed decisively to the reconstruction of the truth and the processes of justice, they have done so from different perspectives and tools.

This article attempts to bridge these two fields by focusing on the historical demand of the Human Rights Movement for the opening of archives, as well as on the construction of own or state archives that were carried out in parallel with this demand, especially in spaces outside of Buenos Aires and the city of La Plata, with the city of Rosario as the focal point. At the same time, we emphasize the need to find and open the archives, which, despite various government announcements made at different times, are still lacking. Finally, attention will be paid to the memory policies that have marked progress and setbacks in access to archives, particularly in the context of the current administration of Javier Milei.