Don't Give Up Your Voice!

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DON'T GIVE UP YOUR VOICE! is at first glance about Argentina, but it is also about the USA. Argentina elected its Trump, Mauricio Macri, a year before we elected ours. The two are quite similar in the tone of their campaigns and the policies they are promoting once in office. But Argentines are resilient, and they have fought right wing governments before.

DON'T GIVE UP YOUR VOICE! looks at the widespread and creative resistance to Macri's policies-- in organized labor, at worker coops, street protests, theater and music. The film offers instructive parallels with the situation in the US, while illustrating the power of collective action.

'Urgent viewing for all those in the Americas and around the world who are fighting to beat back the threat of far-right and neo-fascist ascendance.' William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, Global, and Latin American Studies, University of California - Santa Barbara

'It's terrific. And so timely. It has amazing parallels with the US...Great political analysis and great views of the co-ops. ' Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development, Dept of Africana Studies, John Jay College - CUNY, Author, Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice

'The huge and unnecessary human costs of capitalism's cyclical instability and inherent tendency to inequality have always provoked anti-capitalist initiatives. Increasingly, the initiatives focus on the micro level: to transform workplaces' internal organizations from their hierarchical, anti-democratic past into a genuinely democratic worker-cooperative future...This film documents the process in Argentina.' Richard D. Wolff, Founder and Contributor, Democracy at Work, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

'Macri emerged as a Latin Donald Trump, adept at manipulating citizens dissatisfied with the status quo, demonizing the 'Other' and pitting people against one another...The culture of resistance continues strong among the people...They have not given up their voice. They give voice to the resistance to savage capitalism that has enveloped Argentina. La lucha continua.' Cliff Durand, Co-founder and Research Associate, Center for Global Justice, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Morgan State University, Author, Moving Beyond Capitalism

'This film offers a ray of hope in a time of fear brought on by right-wing electoral victories that have unified courts, governments, and media. The solution to such electoral failures? Cooperatives and neighborhoods actively supporting each other in taking over workplaces for self-governance. Newspapers, hotels, drama groups, factories - All Americans need to know the power of collective action and cooperation in the face of such governments. View the film; show the film; discuss the film; and then act for the good of all.' E. Paul Durrenberger, Co-founder, The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Iowa and Penn State University

'Don't Give Up Your Voice will benefit a range of interdisciplinary audiences - students, educators and community groups - interested in contemporary Argentina or experiencing similar circumstances in their own communities. Few countries capture the intersection of global markets and ideological divisions, on the one hand, and domestic political institutions and civil society, on the other hand. This film articulates and illuminates the multiple venues - the arts, the factory floor, the streets, etc. - in which current struggles, conflicts, and resistance unfold.' Ken Mitchell, Chair, Department of Political Science and Sociology, Monmouth University

'How can activists respond when a right-wing populist is elected president? In Argentina, artists, worker coops, and independent media have come up with creative answers. This lively documentary shows they have important lessons for the rest of us.' Chris Tilly, Professor of Urban Planning, University of California-Los Angeles

'Dynamic documentary...An on-point introduction to Argentina's current situation...The film centers on how everyday people engage in meaningful and effective acts of resistance in order to protect their jobs, defend their dignity and stand up for a truly democratic society. Nuanced and exploring this moment of struggle from a variety of perspectives, Don't Give Up Your Voice is a powerful depiction of how politics are made by workers, protestors, teachers, community organizers, artists and everyone who cares to be involved.' Paola Ehrmantraut, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas

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Main credits

Young, Melissa (film producer)
Young, Melissa (film director)
Dworkin, Mark (photographer)
Dworkin, Mark (editor of moving image work)
Dworkin, Mark (film director)

Other credits

Photography/editing, Mark Dworkin.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

resistance to Macri, Argentina, history of right wing governments, Mauricio Macri, parallels with Trump, organized labor, worker co-ops, street protests, resistance theater, resistance music, collectives, collective action, political activism, protest movements, Bauen Hotel Cooperative, ; Microteclados, Tiempo Argentina, Zanon Ceramics, Textil Globito Co-op, Teatro X La Identidad; "Don't Give Up Your Voice!"; Bullfrog Films,doc,art; history; politics; sociss

[00:00:02.02]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:00:05.01]
- [Narrator] In 2015 Argentina
elected a new president.

[00:00:10.03]
Most people were surprised
at how the vote turned out.

[00:01:01.09]
- [Narrator] Argentines
poured into the streets

[00:01:03.08]
in shock and outrage, angry
at the tone of the campaign

[00:01:08.01]
and the policies put forward
by the new president.

[00:01:12.07]
It was a lot like what happened
in the US a year later.

[00:01:16.07]
- [Male Reporter] Tell
me about your day today.

[00:02:42.07]
[gunshots]

[00:04:03.03]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:04:31.03]
[upbeat tango music]

[00:04:50.00]
- [Narrator] The president before Macri

[00:04:51.08]
was Cristina Kirchner, who
succeeded her husband Nestor.

[00:04:57.01]
Elected after a major economic collapse,

[00:04:59.06]
the Kirchners defied global bankers

[00:05:01.07]
and rejected the IMF
with help from Venezuela.

[00:05:07.00]
They worked to stabilize
the domestic economy

[00:05:09.06]
and provided support for
those who were most in need.

[00:08:04.03]
[speaking in Spanish]
[crowd cheering]

[00:08:57.01]
[crowd chanting in Spanish]

[00:08:59.05]
- [Narrator] Just hours before the workers

[00:09:01.00]
at the Hotel Bauen were
scheduled to leave the building

[00:09:03.08]
their eviction was
halted by a court order.

[00:11:54.09]
[speaking in Spanish]

[00:20:01.08]
- [Narrator] The Zanon
tile factory was built

[00:20:03.07]
with government loans that
the owners never repaid.

[00:20:07.05]
When the economy crashed in 2001,

[00:20:10.00]
workers began to run
the company as a co-op

[00:20:12.06]
despite fierce opposition
from the former owners.

[00:23:16.07]
[upbeat music]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:24:42.02]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:26:04.05]
[audience applauding]

[00:26:15.06]
[dramatic instrumental music]

[00:26:20.05]
[gunshots]

[00:26:25.03]
- [Narrator] The last right-wing
government in Argentina

[00:26:27.04]
came to power in the barrel of a gun.

[00:26:30.05]
From 1976 to '83, over
30,000 trade unionists,

[00:26:34.07]
students and political
advocates were kidnapped,

[00:26:37.02]
tortured, and disappeared.

[00:26:39.08]
Hundreds of babies born to prisoners

[00:26:41.08]
were given to military families

[00:26:43.08]
when their parents were killed.

[00:26:45.09]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:26:49.07]
A brave group of mothers
began a weekly march

[00:26:52.00]
in Buenos Aires, demanding
to know what happened

[00:26:54.05]
to their families.

[00:26:57.05]
The mothers and grandmothers
of the Plaza de Mayo

[00:27:00.00]
are still marching.

[00:27:03.07]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:27:07.03]
In 2004, a prison complex where thousands

[00:27:09.08]
had been tortured and
killed was signed over

[00:27:12.02]
to human rights groups
to become an arts center

[00:27:14.04]
and a memorial.

[00:27:31.05]
[crowd cheering]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:28:26.00]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:28:46.09]
- [Narrator] Once Macri took office

[00:28:48.07]
he reduced the government funding

[00:28:50.03]
which had helped the
cultural center stay open.

[00:29:25.00]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:32:31.07]
[upbeat percussive music]

[00:32:40.04]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:34:08.09]
[audience applauding]

[00:34:34.06]
[crowd shouting]

[00:34:38.09]
- [Narrator] Although the
great majority of Argentines

[00:34:40.09]
were against it, President
Macri renewed relations

[00:34:44.01]
with the International Monetary Fund

[00:34:46.01]
and arranged a fresh $50 billion loan.

[00:35:17.09]
[singing in Spanish]
[crowd clapping]

[00:37:27.09]
[singing in Spanish]

[00:37:30.02]
- [Narrator] For those who
oppose Macri's policies

[00:37:32.07]
the midterm elections of 2017
were a great disappointment.

[00:37:37.04]
The president's supporters
actually increased their numbers

[00:37:40.05]
in the Argentine Congress.

[00:38:10.00]
[crowd chanting]

[00:38:35.03]
- [Narrator] 14 months after
their scheduled eviction,

[00:38:37.08]
Bauen workers continued running the hotel.

[00:38:42.02]
Workers at Textil Globito
moved to a new facility

[00:38:45.00]
and are back in production.

[00:38:48.01]
And the cooperative
newspaper Tiempo Argentina

[00:38:51.02]
is still publishing.

[00:38:56.00]
[upbeat tango music]

[00:38:58.08]
[crowd chanting in Spanish]

[00:39:02.07]

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