Book project

When Activists Become Bureaucrats:

Social Movements and State Responsiveness in Argentina

My book project examines how social movement activists become bureaucrats, bringing with them the informal knowledge, practices, and networks necessary to govern places that the state has long neglected, such as urban slums and informal settlements.

Drawing on an original dataset of over 5,000 senior bureaucrats, dozens of interviews, and a survey experiment with slum leaders in Argentina, the book shows that when activists enter the bureaucracy in positions of power, they not only influence the provision of public services but also reshape how local leaders perceive and relate to the state.

The book combines administrative, experimental, and qualitative data to reveal that policy implementation among the most vulnerable groups is not only about what is delivered, but also about who delivers it. In this context, trust is likely to emerge not just from institutional design, but from the ability of embedded actors to fulfill long-standing promises and engage communities through shared histories and everyday presence.

When Activists Become Bureaucrats contributes to broader debates on state capacity, bureaucratic politics, and democratic inclusion in the Global South. It challenges conventional views of the state as a fixed institutional apparatus by showing how it is continually reshaped from within, especially when actors rooted in collective organization and marginal territories access positions of power. The book project speaks to scholars of comparative politics, urban governance, and social movements, offering new insights into how informal institutions and grassroots networks can become sources of state authority, legitimacy, and effectiveness in contexts of structural inequality and institutional absence.