50 Years from the Coup d'État in Argentina, 1976-2026

This roundtable brings together academics from different disciplines (Political Science, Sociology, and Cultural Studies) to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the most recent civic-military takeover in Argentina, which occurred on March 24, 1976. The discussion will address key questions, such as: What are the visible and invisible legacies of the dictatorship? What is the state of Argentina's democracy? What are the main political, economic, and social challenges that the country is facing on this emblematic anniversary?

Speakers:

- ‎Professor Claudia Bacci, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires

- ‎Dr Jordana Blejmar, Senior Lecturer in Visual Media and Cultural Studies, University of Liverpool

- Professor Ezequiel Gonzalez Ocantos, Professor of Comparative and Judicial Politics, University of Oxford

- ‎Dr Francesca Lessa, Associate Professor in International Relations of the Americas, UCL (chair)

Speakers' Biographies:

Dr. Claudia Bacci (UBA) is the author of Testimonio, género y afectos. América Latina desde los territorios y las memorias al presente (EDUVIM, 2022) with Alejandra Oberti. She is an Associate Researcher (pending official appointment) at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), based at the Institute of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (IEALC), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Dr. Jordana Blejmar (University of Liverpool) is the author of Playful Memories: The Autofictional Turn in Post-Dictatorship Argentina (Palgrave, 2016), Escala 1:43. Juguetes, historia y cultura material (con N. Fortuny y M. Legón, Aldgate Press, 2023), Cold War Toys in the Latin American Southern Cone. Building Blocks, Miniatures and Models (UCL press, forthcoming) and the co-editor of three books on art and politics in Latin America. She has curated art and photographic exhibitions in Paris (Maison de l’Argentine), Liverpool (Tate), and Buenos Aires (Parque de la Memoria).

Professor Ezequiel Gonzalez Ocantos (Oxford) is the author of Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials (2016), The Politics of Transitional Justice in Latin America (2020), and Prosecutors, Voters, and The Criminalisation of Corruption in Latin America (2023), all published by Cambridge University Press. He is currently writing a book on partisan identities and polarization in Latin America.

Dr Francesca Lessa (UCL) is the author of The Condor Trials: Transnational Repression and Human Rights in South America (Yale University Press, 2022) and Plan Cóndor: Viejos secretos y nuevos hallazgos (Reservoir Books, 2025, 2nd edition) with Sebastián Santana Camargo. She is the coordinator of the Plancondor.org Project at UCL.

This event is co-sponsored by the Recent History and Memory Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and the Plancondor.org Project.