Culture of Class

"In Culture of Class, Matthew B. Karush provides a new cultural history of interwar Argentina and the origins of Peronism. His point of departure is the proliferation of new forms of popular mass media, which he argues simultaneously intensified class conflict and bolstered populist forms of respectability. In this outstanding book, Karush also shows how the popular mass media enabled the peripheral 'modernization' of Argentine national culture." - Federico Finchelstein, author of Transatlantic Fascism: Ideology, Violence, and the Sacred in Argentina and Italy, 1919–1945

"This is an extremely important study. Matthew B. Karush transforms the way we think about private lives and political conflict by weaving together research on the working-class origins of populism, commoners' understandings of consumption, and representations of social roles on the big screen and over the airwaves. Class identities, he argues, were central to Argentina's deep changes in the lead-up to Perón's triumph. Tracking the fascinating evolution of film and radio gives us a whole new way to think about how culture, politics, and market life intersected to remap Argentine society. Karush has written a tremendous book." - Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University

“Karush’s book is a key contribution to the analysis of the deep connections between mass culture and politics in the contexts of Latin American ‘alternative modernity’ at large. To Argentine historiography, it adds a refreshing culturalist view of long-running discussions about the origins of Peronism and, more prominently, it helps expand decisively our knowledge of the heterogeneous popular classes through the lens of their cultural consumptions.” - Valeria Manzano, Journal of Latin American Studies

“This innovative book builds on and goes beyond recent scholarship on the rise of mass culture in Latin America.”  - Bryan McCann, Hispanic American Historical Review

“The book's strengths lie in Kamsh's careful and compelling accounts of the way media worked in inter-war Buenos Aires…. [T]he book's marvelous rendition of a key moment in Argentine history and its persuasive placement of media at the centre of analysis. It will enjoy broad appeal, for undergraduates and graduate students, for scholars of Latin America and those interested in radio, cinema, and the vagaries of political life.” - Alejandra Bronfman, Canadian Journal of History

“[Karush’s] rich analysis of tango and cinema shows the tension between melodrama’s inner conservatism and its subversive message regarding the moral superiority of the popular classes.” - Paula Halperin, American Historical Review

"One of the more impressive publications treating radio and cinema in Latin America." - Justin Castro, Latin American Research Review

"Culture of Class is composed masterfully. With engaging prose, it forces us to re-examine the causes of Peronism. Published in 2012, it remains a huge contribution to our understanding of the interplay of mass culture and politics in early-twentieth-century Latin America." - J. Justin Castro, Technology and Culture