Spectacles for everyone: Emotions and politics in Argentina, 2010-2013

In the course of the last century, we have been witness to a tightening bond between the culture of spectacle and the Argentinean emotions industry. It seems that the new media in general, and the social networks in particular, have taken their place alongside the traditional media and are working to strengthen ways of distributing political and cultural spectacles. Furthermore, it appears that the multiple platforms for disseminating fantasies and elaborate appearances by means of arousing emotions are being successfully exploited for the purpose of political marketing. Accordingly, the present chapter focuses on the interaction between sport and politics as an example of emotive practices that lie behind spectacle in Argentina. In order to examine these practices, two main questions were presented that complete one another: 1. What are the characteristics of practices underlying political spectacles in Argentina? 2. What are the characteristics of emotional practices underlying Argentinean political spectacles? A systematic inquiry was performed based on the YouTube channel "Casa Rosada" and the official program "Football for everyone (FFE)," which uncovered some elements of the articulating phenomenon of emotional practices employed by the Argentinean government (implementing verbal as well as visual techniques to create a presentation of joyful spectacle based upon an imagined personal, intimate relationship between the president and the audience). Results suggest that football spectacles and political performances are aesthetic products grounded in an illusion of civil belonging and emotional density.