Educational Media Reviews Online

In 2015, Argentina elected a new president, Mauricio Macri. It was a surprise to many, because his policies were more conservative than recent previous presidents. His calls for immigration reform, use of social media to spread his message, and seeming legitimization of violence against those viewed as less worthy brought comparisons to the election of Donald Trump in the U.S., as the video points out.

But this video is not a comparative study of the two elections, or an in-depth analysis of how Macri was able to triumph. Rather, it is a look at resistance movements against Macri and his free-market capitalism policies. Hence, the video's title Don't Give Up Your Voice.

As a reaction to Macri economics, several businesses that have been closed or abandoned by the owners have been taken over by workers and run as co-operatives. Providing direct political criticism of Macri are other co-operative endeavors, such as the newspaper "Tiempo Arentina" and the theater group Women on Fire Theatre Collective.

This kind of direct-action resistance is an interesting contrast to the U.S., in which of the criticism and action against President Trump is managed by commercially-run media, labor unions, and political parties. I would have preferred more comparisons between the two countries and considerations whether this Argentine-style activism could get a foothold in the U.S. Also, for those viewers not familiar with Argentina's political situation, more background and analysis of how Macri was able to win would have been helpful.

However, taking the video as it is, it does a provide a look at one South American country's resistance movement against its current president, and is recommended on that basis. The video is most useful for classes in current Latin American history and economics and sociology classes on alternatives to modern-day capitalism.