Sanitizing Argentina: Hegemonic Whiteness in the Europe of South America

Abstract: This thesis examines underlying perceptions in Argentina about European culture, class, and environment. In contemporary Argentina, the population is made up of a majority of European descendants, distinguishing it from other countries in Latin America. Probing into the recent migratory history, identities are remolded in order to emulate development and environmental attitudes similar to those of their European dominators. Current political doctrines reflect ideologies of Argentina’s founding fathers and are consequently transmitted to individual opinions. Themes of coloniality, underdevelopment, hegemonic whiteness, and environment reveal what it means to be part of a country developing in the modern world system and what forces affect those ontologies.