ABSTRACT
Introduction:
This article looks, from a qualitative political sociology, into the social trajectories and entries to politics of a group of Argentine national congressmen that were elected after 2007, having accumulated resources and recognition in other professional fields.
Materials and Methods:
We reconstruct their professional trajectories, recruitments, entries to politics and arrivals to the Lower Chamber from in-depth interviews and secondary sources. The cases were chosen based on the possibilities each of them offers to show a variety of socio-professional origins and kinds of political capitals.
Results:
The analysis is centered in three dimensions: a) the reconversion of the resources accumulated in the previous professions into political capital; b) the entrance to political competition in terms of investments and risk; and c) the subordinated position of these actors when they enter to the Congress. We show how: a) entering “from outside” can be made with two types of resources, individual and collective; b) risks assumed are linked to the chances of returning to the professional field they were in before; and c) there is a double marginal condition, for they are in subordinated positions in Congress life and feel aliens regarding the Congress rules.
Discussion:
The article contributes to the knowledge on contemporary Argentine political elites and, especially, on those who enter to Congress “from outside” by using French political sociology’s conceptualization on the structures of resources these actors have while they enter politics. Thus, it allows to understand the social conditions of political recruitment beyond institutional variables.
Keywords:
Political Elites; Entering Politics; Political Trajectories; National Congressmen; Argentina