BECOMING A PIQUETERO: WORKING-CLASS ROUTINES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVIST DISPOSITIONS^*

Despite substantial progress in social movement research, our understanding of activism is much more elaborate with regards to the role of ideas and beliefs than concerning the influence of routines. In this article, I draw on both broad sociological literature and ethnographic research on the unemployed worker’s movement in Argentina to address this issue. I argue that an essential attraction of participating in this movement is the opportunity to engage in the daily practices associated with a respectable proletarian ethos. Through the reconstruction of past routines and the development of new habits, some participants come to see their involvement in the movement as an end in itself despite significant personal obstacles and even occasional disagreements with their organization’s ideology. These findings suggest that research on the relation between practices and activism can significantly complement the current literature and deepen our knowledge of social movement participation.