Gino Germani and the problem of the masses

Abstract

This article aims to study how the problem of the masses is conceptualized in the work of Gino Germani. Its objectives are, first, to specify and locate such a problem in his whole work, then to analyze how the relationship between the masses and Peronism is conceptualized and, finally, to study the relationship/tension between the masses and the elites, paying special attention to Karl Mannheim’s influence on Germani. It is concludes that, for Germani, the Peronist path toward the integration of the masses implies the restriction of individual liberties.