ABSTRACT
At the end of the First World War, Argentina concluded several bilateral treaties with European countries on the mutual recognition of social benefits, which was one of the first steps to create a modern welfare state. As this chapter demonstrates, international agreements on social and labour standards were not only means to improve living and working conditions for European immigrants, but also served as strategic political instruments to promote the perception of an immigrant-friendly country in the international arena. During the “immigration crisis” that Argentina went through in the 1920s and 1930s, the Argentinean government increasingly invested in cooperation with international actors to foster European immigration. The extension of social benefits for immigrants was intended to make Argentina attractive to Europeans, as it was expected that their presence would lead to an economically desirable development of the country. By emphasising the transnational bonds of Argentinean social policymaking, the chapter’s argument is that social policy was used as a toolkit of foreign policy to encourage immigration especially of white, European descent, although the internationally launched initiatives failed time and again due to the ambivalent attitude of Argentines towards immigration.
