Karen Ann Faulk has written an important book about human rights and citizen participation at a critical juncture in contemporary Argentina. The study ably weaves together two fascinating and important stories about social activism. One is that of Memoria Activa, a movement formed in the aftermath of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre, the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, AMIA) building, in Buenos Aires. The attack left 86 dead and scores of people injured. The other is that of Cooperativa Bauen, a pioneering experiment in worker-run enterprises in the post-2001 economic crisis. It was formed by employees of a bankrupt, once-prominent hotel in downtown Buenos Aires. After a decade, the Cooperativa has become a beacon of success for similar initiatives. Drawing on a wealth of data, Faulk authoritatively chronicles the history of both movements. Her narrative is packed with original information and perceptive observations. Her argument is that both movements represent the reinvigoration of social rights at a time when the Kirchner administration was pushing for the roll-back of neoconservative policies.

The two cases are analysed in the context of the historical clash between solidarity and exclusion, equality and exploitation, rights and persecution, in Argentina. Although they have existed in tension throughout the country's turbulent political history, these currents tragically clashed during the last military dictatorship in the 1970s. Although the military regime systematically violated individual and collective rights, it didn't completely stamp out demands for rights. State terror inevitably meets resistance. The Madres de Plaza de Mayo notably carried the flags of truth and justice during the harshest years of the regime. Their discourse and street actions influenced myriad forms of social activism in the post-dictatorship period. From protests against trigger-happy police to mobilisation demanding government and business accountability in the aftermath of fires and accidents that left dozens dead, mobilised citizens embraced the discourse of rights.

Faulk's choice of cases for comparative analysis is interesting. Her justification is that both movements are primarily concerned with collective well-being. They represent values that go beyond liberal individual rights. She is correct in this point – undoubtedly, Memoria Activa follows the trail blazed by the Madres and other human rights organisations. It is inscribed in the politics of memory and justice that have been a fixture of Argentine politics during recent decades. Memory, the reluctance to forget, is essential to seek justice. It has to be permanently cultivated, through public and private acts, precisely because justice is elusive. The Cooperativa Bauen, instead, is firmly inscribed in the tradition of social and labour rights. Although it is inseparable from the politics of memory (the Hotel Bauen's original owners had benefited from loans granted by the military dictatorship), the Cooperativa foregrounds a conception of labour rights as social rights – ownership, employment, decision-making and wages. Both cases attest to the fact that demands for individual and collective rights in contemporary Argentina are embedded in the legacy of human rights movements.

Whereas the book's empirical analysis is solid, the discussion of the theoretical and analytical implications could have been stronger. Throughout the study, Faulk signals a few possible directions, but she doesn't sufficiently delve into several options. She makes an interesting observation about the rearticulation of international human rights within local traditions, but she doesn't provide an in-depth analysis about how this process happens in both movements. Another theoretical line of inquiry that isn't fully explored is the question of liberal and collective rights. Faulk criticises the conception of liberal rights articulated by free-market conservatives, and praises both movements for embodying anti-liberal, social views; she leaves unexamined, however, how different human rights movements have navigated the traditions of individual and collective rights. In fact, they haven't completely shunned liberalism in pursuit of collective rights. Demands for justice and freedom of expression found in both Memoria Activa and the Cooperativa Bauen are entrenched in the liberal tradition. Although they overcome the limitations of the classic liberal model, as Faulk correctly argues, their demands are premised on basic constitutional rights.

Finally, the relationship between the state and human rights movements is another important theoretical issue on which the book touches in passing. Faulk recognises the ambiguity of the state as a source of control and domination as well as a guarantor of justice and rights. Early in the book she seems to endorse a Foucauldian conception of an all-controlling state that produces docile citizens, yet her study actually shows that the relationship between state and citizenship is not straightforward. She documents sustained acts of vibrant citizenship that simultaneously criticise the responsibility of the state and seek to find allies within the state. Memoria Activa has accused government officials (former president Menem, Judge Juan José Galeano, police chiefs and officers) of aiding and covering for the perpetrators, interfering with the investigation and other forms of malfeasance. The organisation, however, has maintained cordial relations with the Kirchner administration and even openly supported some of its decisions on the grounds that they are opportunities to achieve justice. Various groups in the Jewish community mobilised for truth and justice after the bombings of the Israeli embassy in 1992 and the AMIA building in 1994 have maintained different positions vis-à-vis various state actors. Similarly, the Cooperativa Bauen, as Faulk discusses in detail, has raised criticisms of previous administrations but has supported sympathetic city council members who sponsored favourable bills. In summary, the relations between the state and human rights movements are fluid, and they can't be summarised in terms of opposition or alliance.

Although one wishes the book could have explored these theoretical tensions in depth, Faulk provides valuable insights for assessing the contributions of movements that actualise conceptions of social citizenship in contemporary Argentina. It is debatable whether Argentina has effectively entered a post-liberal moment, as the title suggests. Despite the decision of the Kirchner governments to reopen trials of military officers and their proximity to some human rights organisations, it is too early to determine where civic demands for truth and justice represent the dawn of a new era of social rights that draw from liberal and social democratic traditions.