Region and Nation: Politics, Economy, and Society in Twentieth-Century Argentina (review)
nism.” He points out that after the early negative or pathological assessments of the movement by Guillermo de Torre and others who likened it to European fascism, Abelardo Ramos spearheaded a new view which saw Peronism as a “liberating movement.” This perception gained acceptance in the 1960s and 1970s. Influential scholars like Gino Germani and Torcuato di Tella also discerned positive features and held that Peronism was an outgrowth of Argentina’s modernization process (p. 53). Plotkin notes the important analysis provided by Murmis and Portantiero who define Peronism as a polyclass alliance of workers, sectors of the army, and industrialists. Plotkin also calls attention to two topics about which much has been written: the figures of Juan and Eva Perón. Two novels by Tomás Eloy Martínez provide compelling interpretations of these personalities.