Silence, Order, Obedience and Discipline. The educational discourse of the Argentinean Military Regime (1976-1983)

Abstract: This dissertation deals with the educational discourse of the military government in Argentina during the years 1976-1983. In March 1976, the army assumed power through a coup d´état. The intervention was carried out in the name of Order, i. e. to save the country from the crisis in which it was immersed. Through the Proceso de Reorganization Nacional they attempted to restore order and discipline in the Argentine society. The aim of this study is to analyse the military political narratives of order and values which constituted the core of the military educational discourse during the period studied. In particular, I examine the construction of the disciplinary order by focusing on the construction of social relations. In this study different qualitative methods and different types of material (interviews, documents) are combined. The discourse analysis carried out builds on the conceptualization of Michel Foucault, that is discourses considered as the inherent signification of every social organization. Emphasizing the relationship between education and politics, the content of educational discourse is analysed through a study of the subject ”Formation Moral y Cívica” in the secondary school as well as of the pedagogical practices and the disciplinary strategies implemented by the military government. A historical dimension is also adopted. In this context, different features of the Argentinean social formation and state have been taken into account, particularly the influence of the colonial heritage from Spain and the role of the Catholic Church. The need to analyse Argentinean education as a new sociological educational discourse is grounded in the specific characteristics of the military Junta´s government. Their attempt to restructure the state implied the militarization of civil society. In this respect, Gramsci´s theories on hegemony and Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of power have been used as analytical instruments. Empirical research shows how the disciplinary practices, which implied specific narratives of order, reveal how the technical operationalization of the school ruling power was implemented. It shows how, through a disciplinary apparatus and the use of more refined methods, a social process attempted to subordinate the secondary school students and to create an obedient individual. These methods contributed to the perpetuation of an authoritarian structure aimed at passive obedience to rules and laws and respect for the authorities. These practices reveal the meaning and form of a non- democratic and authoritarian discursive universe mastered by order, silence, obedience and discipline.