Pathways from Anti-Tax Protest to Business Activism Among Agrarian Producers in Argentina

This article investigates the pathways of anti-tax mobilization and post-protest business activism among Argentine agrarian producers during and after the 2008 anti-tax protests against Resolution 125, a tax bill that increased soybean export taxes and created a mechanism to automatically modify the tax rate tied to soybean international market prices. Drawing on over 60 in-depth elite interviews with local think tank analysts, journalists, policymakers, and agrarian producers (both who mobilized and who did not), I categorize protest participants into five distinct roles: institutional leaders, picket leaders, networkers, collaborators, and non-participants. I analyze the factors driving mobilization and continued political engagement post-protests, highlighting that mobilization in 2008 was not shaped by typical sociodemographic or associative factors. However, post-protest business activism followed more discernible patterns, with picket leaders and networkers becoming more politically active in new corporate associations and institutional party politics. The study contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of rural politics in Argentina, particularly the engagement of agrarian elites in post-protest contexts. Furthermore, it sheds light on some of the mechanisms behind taxation policies under both left-wing and right-wing governments, suggesting that business elites may accept and even support tax increases when perceived as necessary to avoid more the election of left-wing candidates.