Emergence and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

Emergence occurs when interactions produce capabilities that are not apparent from the components considered separately. In a protest movement, coordination, repetition, and public attention can give a group influence unavailable to isolated individuals. The resulting effects may also extend beyond what participants initially intended.

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

During the period from 1977 to 2006 described here, a group of women, many quite elderly, held regular Thursday gatherings in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mostly wearing matching white headscarves, they walked across the square while chanting and holding banners. Though their methods were humble, what they peacefully achieved over the decades is remarkable.

Periods of history form a coherent narrative under a name only in retrospect. We know the period of state terrorism in Argentina between 1976 and 1983 as the Dirty War. The average Argentinian simply experienced it as a period of extreme, random violence. Due to media censorship, many people didn’t even know much about the events at the time if no one they knew personally was targeted.

After the Argentine military performed a successful coup against President Isabel Perón, it declared anyone who opposed its policies an enemy of the state. Anyone who came under suspicion, even if they were not an actual threat, risked going missing. Argentinians referred to these people as los desaparecidos, meaning “the disappeared.” The government did everything possible to erase any proof they ever existed or to obscure their whereabouts. Many were drugged and thrown from airplanes to prevent their bodies from being found. The total death toll is estimated at thirty thousand. In addition, the children of pregnant desaparecidos were put up for adoption or sold, with many never learning their true backgrounds. Even to attempt to trace the whereabouts of a missing friend or family member could be fatal.

Despite the fierce censorship and punishment of dissenters, one group retained power—by virtue of their powerlessness and vulnerability. For the mothers of the many people who disappeared, the grief was unbearable. A handful couldn’t contain it any longer, and despite the extreme risk, they decided to challenge the regime. On April 30, 1977, fourteen mothers met in the Plaza de Mayo and marched, demanding to know what had happened to their children. Soon their numbers grew to the hundreds. The mothers wore white headscarves embroidered with the names and dates of birth of their children, which became a symbol of their movement. As the disappearances continued, their tactics grew bolder.

At first, the Argentine government underestimated the movement. Murdering a visible group of mothers and grandmothers would risk a major backlash. In any case, annoying as they were, a handful of women seemed harmless. They had no power to oppose the government. Officials called them crazy and left it at that.

But they misunderstood the potential for and impact of emergence. As individuals, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo had no power or influence over the government. At first they had little support because most people didn’t even know about the disappearances. When they worked as a group, repeating the same actions each week for years, the total effect was greater than the sum of its parts. They had a power that was the result of them coming together. Seeing as the regime relied on scaring people into silence, speaking out was the most impactful thing they could do.

As Diana Taylor writes in Disappearing Acts, “Only by being visible could they be politically effective. Only by being visible could they stay alive. Visibility was both a refuge and a trap—a trap because the military knew who their opponents were but a refuge insofar as the women were only safe when they were demonstrating.”

While the government paid no attention, news of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo spread outside Argentina. Countries without media censorship reported on their protests, raising awareness of the brutality of the Dirty War. Human rights groups offered up resources to help the group achieve more.

With increased support came increased pushback. The Argentine government began to target the mothers, and a number became desaparecidos themselves. A policeman fired a machine gun at them during one protest. Some founders of the movement were murdered, and the ultimate fate of some members is still unknown. But they refused to back down because they were safer in the public eye, not out of it.

Once the Dirty War came to an end in 1983, the mothers knew their fight was far from over. They still needed to know the fate of their children and wanted those who had murdered them or were responsible for orders that led to deaths to face the consequences. Mothers whose children were pregnant at the time of their disappearances wanted to trace their grandchildren. By the time of this account, more than 850 people had been charged with crimes committed during the Dirty War, and more than 120 stolen children had been identified and reunited with relatives. DNA testing has helped to identify bodies from mass graves.

By taking advantage of their power as a peaceful group, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo managed to help change things in Argentina. Nothing they did could bring their children back, but they could hope that it prevented others from losing theirs, and it could bring them closure. Their methods inspired similar groups around the world. While their main initial intention was to find out what had happened to their children, their protests had larger effects, such as calling the wider world’s attention to the regime’s abuse of power. They helped undermine the regime’s sense of its ability to control people’s thinking.

As a group, the mothers possessed qualities none of them had as individuals. They were visible, and that visibility made them counterintuitively less vulnerable to harm. Oppressive regimes thrive when people are too scared to be seen opposing them. Visible opposition inspires more people to ask questions and to join in fighting oppression. That’s why the government at the time went to such lengths to prevent dissent.

The outcome was not inevitable, and visibility did not make the mothers safe from repression. Their sustained collective action nevertheless attracted attention and support that no isolated participant could have commanded. Those interactions help explain why the movement’s effects extended beyond its initial aims.