Autonomy, citizenship and participation: an ethnographic study on the Reform of the Urban Code and the Construction Code of the City of Buenos Aires

Abstract

This article examines certain modifications introduced in 1996 in the context of Buenos Aires city´s political autonomization, linked to the promotion of direct democracy and the expansion of participatory mechanisms. It explores the positions and languages used by the citizens who participated in the Public Hearings held in 2018 in Buenos Aires’ Legislature because of the reform of the Urban Code and the Building Code. In contrast to other participatory instances whose paradigmatic figure is that of the isolated neighbor who makes individual claims, the persons who attend Public Hearings were involved with public affairs and nucleated in larger social organizations. They articulated a language of rights based on the text of the Constitution. The contributions and qualitative methods of the anthropological discipline support the elaboration of this writing.