Políticas culturales de base comunitaria en Argentina: trayectoria histórica, tensiones instituyentes y escenarios actuales

Abstract

This article examines the emergence and development of community-based cultural policies in Argentina, with particular attention to their historical foundations, processes of state institutionalization, and the tensions that arise between public policy frameworks and community autonomy. Adopting a historical-analytical approach, the study traces key antecedents rooted in popular, working-class, and neighborhood cultural practices, as well as in traditions of social participation fostered by cultural and educational movements throughout the twentieth century. The analysis focuses especially on the Puntos de Cultura program, established in 2011, situating it within its dialogical and conflictive relationship with the Culture of Community Life movement. By exploring both the scope and the limits of this policy experience, the article interrogates the promises and constraints of cultural and participatory democracy in the Argentine context. In conclusion, it reflects on the current scenario of state retrenchment, assessing the risks such shifts pose to the sector and the enduring capacity of community culture to sustain collective action, symbolic production, and political agency under adverse institutional conditions.