Introduction

The first two decades of the twenty-first century can be characterised by the increase in poverty, the massiveness of social programmes (De Sena 2011), the different forms of digitalisation of life and the centrality of consumption (Scribano 2015). Added to this, in 2020, was the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving consequences of different kinds (social, health and economic), among which the increase in global poverty stands out. Although a few years have passed, the geopolitical scenario of the Latin American region has not managed to recover pre-pandemic conditions. Some elements at a global level have also worsened this scenario: the slowdown in economic growth, slow job creation, as well as an inflationary effect on food and energy that worsens the situation of lower-income sectors (CEPAL 2022).

Social policies, as interventions located in space-time and in a particular accumulation regime, are mediations of the state that seek to influence the conditions of production and reproduction of forms of life in society. They are developed from positions and visions of the world, establishing meanings and emotions. Over the last decades, they have been modifying their objectives, population, forms of provision and justifications. In these modifications, the incentive to consume or its increase acquires great mention and importance in the modality with the greatest reach and coverage in the region: cash transfer programmes (CTPs). Added to this is the wealth of interventions created to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scenario mentioned in Argentina assumes its own particularities. Therefore, in this chapter, based on multi-method research carried out in the Municipality of La Matanza (Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina), we will analyse, first, the meaning assigned – by its recipients – to the CTPs – in the pre-pandemic and pandemic context, as well as the emotions about consumption after receiving those interventions. This will allow us to characterise the economic situation of the recipients and the emotions that are organised before, during and after the pandemic and in the face of their consumption practices's restructuration.

The municipality under study is the largest and most densely populated in Greater Buenos Aires. Given that it is the largest urban complex in the country, with an estimated population of just over 11 million inhabitants (INDEC 2022), that is, almost 25 per cent of the total population of Argentina.