Citizenship and biological stereotypes: The argentine federal constitution case

Abstract

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the notion of citizenship in Argentina as the basis for discrimination within the country. Tracing an unfounded biological discourse, rooted in the eugenics movement, this article suggests that social cohesion is being undermined by a separation of society into a hierarchy of races. As will be illustrated, in social terms, the idea of citizenship in Argentina foments xenophobic violence toward individuals who are assigned to certain categories. Through the use of different scientific methodologies –i.e. analytical, historical and descriptive-, the constitutional foundational yearning is compared with the cruel legal inequality and social exclusion that prevails in Argentine society, where a distinction between citizens of first and second class is made.