Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Dr. Karen Robert
Book: Driving Terror: Labor, Violence, and Justice in Cold War Argentina (U New Mexico Press, 2025)
Date: September 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Dr. Karen Robert discussing her new book, Driving Terror: Labor, Violence, and Justice in Cold War Argentina. The conversation explores the emblematic role of the Ford Falcon car in Argentina from the 1960s-1990s, its connection to political violence and labor history, and the broader intertwining of Cold War politics, industrial labor, and justice. Central to the discussion is the story of 24 Ford auto workers who became victims of state and corporate violence during Argentina's last military dictatorship.

Key Discussion Points

1. Origins and Symbolic Transformation of the Ford Falcon

[03:03–10:33]

• Dr. Robert introduces her background and recounts how the Ford Falcon's contradictory presence in Argentina—nostalgic for many, terrifying for others—led her to the subject.

  “There was this enormous contradiction between these nostalgic and horrific memories.” – Karen Robert [04:47]

• The Falcon was introduced in the U.S. in 1959 as an affordable, pragmatic car meant to rival the VW Beetle; in Argentina, it soon became both a symbol of modernity and, later, of state terror.

• Dr. Robert emphasizes that U.S. car companies used Cold War propaganda, leveraging the Falcon as a monument to American ideals such as freedom and consumerism, explicitly promoted as counterpoints to Soviet communism.

  “The national system of interstate and defense highways… was a massive monumental embodiment of ideals associated with U.S. car culture and consumerism...” – Karen Robert [08:11]

2. Automobile Industry and National Development

[11:00–16:55]

• Early 20th-century Argentina had one of the world’s highest per-capita car consumption rates; Ford became a beloved and recognizable brand (Model T, race teams, etc.).

• By the 1950s–60s, Ford and other automakers were “incentivized” (more accurately, forced via tariffs and local-content rules) by the Argentine government to manufacture domestically, as part of a state-driven drive towards industrialization.

• Addressing misconceptions, Dr. Robert notes Ford was reluctant to invest in manufacturing, but geopolitical shifts (namely, the Cuban Revolution) pushed U.S. companies to comply with Latin American government demands to avoid losing influence.

3. Working at Ford: Hopes and Harsh Realities

[20:04–28:15]

• Initial jobs at Ford’s modern factory offered higher wages, security, and prestige—"classic kind of American dream stuff”—creating fierce competition to gain employment.

  "There was a great deal of excitement among young working people to be able to get into Ford.” – Karen Robert [21:44]

• As global Fordist manufacturing entered crisis in the late 1960s–1970s, mass layoffs, mechanization, and speed-ups eroded working conditions, provoking labor unrest not just in Argentina, but worldwide.

• “There are pitched labor conflicts in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s… as workers very tangibly feel their working conditions get a lot worse, faster, more dangerous, less secure.” – Karen Robert [27:21]

4. Political Context: Cold War, Violence, and U.S. Influence

[28:28–37:57]

• Argentina in the 1960s–70s: political polarization, youth and worker mobilization, radicalization, and increasing violent backlash from the military and far-right, often targeting not just guerrillas but grassroots union organizers.

• The U.S. shift from a promise of development (Alliance for Progress) to security-driven policies (National Security Doctrine):

  “The U.S. became pretty quickly turned away from the idea of development and more towards the idea of security…” – Karen Robert [32:54]

• Training of Latin American security forces (including Argentine officers) in counterinsurgency and torture at the School of the Americas and funding of “business unionism” via the AIFLD, suppressing leftist worker movements.

5. The Ford Falcon as an Emblem of Terror

[37:57–44:13]

• The Falcon, heavily advertised in the 1960s and associated with aspirational middle-class values, by the 1970s became infamous as the vehicle of choice for kidnappings and disappearances by death squads and security forces.

• “A green Ford Falcon, especially an unmarked green Ford Falcon, could mean, you know, death.” – Karen Robert [43:35]

6. The 24 Ford Workers: Factory-Level Repression and Legal Struggles

[44:13–53:59]

• The 24 Ford union activists were targeted immediately after the 1976 coup, some kidnapped on the factory floor in full view of supervisors, others from their homes, using personnel files supplied by Ford.

  “They were hooded… Their hands were tied with wire. They were paraded up and down the assembly line to frighten their co-workers…” – Karen Robert [45:33]

• Ford supplied vehicles to the military. Kidnappings were followed by torture both inside Ford premises and at police stations—reflecting a broad, systematic attack on labor activists throughout Argentine industry.

• For years, survivors and families sought justice with little public awareness or support due to censorship, fear, and societal denial.

• Landmark 2018 court ruling: Two Ford Argentina executives and a military commander found guilty of crimes against humanity.

  “This was a landmark decision against representatives of this major multinational corporation. But it took years, years of dogged work to achieve.” – Karen Robert [53:30]

7. Memory, Culture, and Legacy

[53:59–59:57]

• After the dictatorship’s fall (1983), Argentina became a global leader in human rights prosecution; art and media grappled with the Falcon’s symbolism.

• Dr. Robert discusses the multifaceted afterlife of the Falcon:

  • As a symbol of terror in art and memory projects.
  • As nostalgia for manufacturing achievement among car club fans.
  • As an ongoing object of intimidation (used in recent far-right threats and memes).

  “The image retains its significance.” – Karen Robert [59:28]

8. Reflections and Dr. Robert’s Next Steps

[59:57–62:20]

• Dr. Robert notes that while this book was a major, challenging project, she plans to focus future writing on her teaching experiences, leaving further research on the Ford workers and the Falcon’s cultural afterlives to Argentine scholars and activists.

  “What I tried to do with this book was to bring together the two threads, the Falcon, symbolic and political history, and the history of these workers…” – Karen Robert [61:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cultural encounters:

  “Like many foreigners, I was quite struck by the overpowering cultural presence of this one automobile, the Ford Falcon sedan.” – Karen Robert [03:27]

• Marketing & the Cold War:

  “It's very in your face what the goal is here… we’re not reading between the lines when talking about the Ford Falcon in the Cold War.” – Miranda Melcher [10:43]

• Repression inside the factory:

  “They were paraded up and down the assembly line to frighten their co-workers. And they were detained and tortured within the grounds of the factory itself...” – Karen Robert [45:33]

• Legal milestone:

  “In December of 2018, they won a globally significant case… this was a landmark decision against representatives of this major multinational corporation.” – Karen Robert [53:29]

• Falcon in memory and culture:

  “So artists who are preoccupied with issues of memory and justice often use the falcon as, you know, a symbol of terror, of military impunity, of police impunity.” – Karen Robert [55:14]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Book Genesis: 01:33–05:24
• Ford Falcon’s Symbolism & Cold War Roots: 06:12–10:33
• Argentine Car Culture and Industrial Policy: 11:28–16:55
• Work at Ford & Labor Dynamics: 20:04–28:15
• Political Violence & U.S. Cold War Policy: 28:28–37:57
• Falcon as Tool of Repression: 38:29–44:13
• The Disappearance of 24 Ford Workers: 44:13–52:00
• Struggles for Justice & Historic Legal Case: 53:36–53:59
• Falcon in Post-Dictatorship Memory & Culture: 54:30–59:57
• Author’s Reflections & Future Plans: 59:57–62:20

Conclusion

Dr. Karen Robert’s Driving Terror offers a compelling narrative at the crossroads of automobile history, Cold War geopolitics, labor struggle, and memory politics in Argentina. The episode highlights not only the horror and resilience embedded in the Falcon’s story, but also the complexities of justice and historical reckoning that persist to this day.