Editing Peronism (section)

== Overview ==
[[File:Discurso de Perón.jpg|thumb|President Juan Perón giving a speech]]
[[File:Eva Perón Discurso.jpg|thumb|[[Eva Perón]] claims the female vote in 1947]]

===Classification===
Peronism is generally considered to be a variant of [[left-wing populism]]<ref>{{harvnb|Gansley-Ortiz|2018}}</ref> or a broadly left-wing ideology;<ref>{{bulleted list|{{cite book |title=Populism and Key Concepts in Social and Political Theory |first1=Carlos |last1=de la Torre |first2=Oscar |last2=Mazzoleni |publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV |isbn=978-90-04-67901-6 |year=2023 |location=Leiden |page=125 |quote=National sovereignty also plays a role in radical left populism as research on Latin American populism has shown. In two of the most prominent cases, that of Peron in Argentina and Chávez in Venezuela, national sovereignty is understood as a trinom that equates people with the nation and ultimately the both of them with the leader.}}|{{cite book |quote="However, where the notion of populist politics becomes more problematic is that even though it embodies an anti-systemic dmension, populist movements are generally organized around a leader: the desires, passions and aspirations of the people are symbolically invested within the figure of the leader who opposes the existing political order. Indeed, the examples of '''left wing populist movements that Laclau is especially fond of are Peronism''' of in Argentina, and the movements in support of Chávez in Venezuela." |title=Radical Democracy and Collective Movements Today: The Biopolitics of the Multitude Versus the Hegemony of the People |page=102 |date=8 April 2016 |first1=Alexandros |last1=Kioupkiolis |first2=Giorgos |last2=Katsambekis |isbn=9781317071952 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}|{{cite book |title=Resistance and integration: Peronism and the Argentine working class, 1946-1976 |first=Daniel |last=James |author-link=Daniel James (historian) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-46682-2 |year=1988 |page=208 |quote=Peronism within the Peron/anti-Peron dichotomy that dominated the political and social context was per se leftist, anti-establishment and revolutionary, and loyalty to its exiled and vilified leader often seemed enough of a definition of a political strategy.}}|{{cite journal |title=Military and Populism: A Global Tour with a Special Emphasis on the Case of Pakistan |first1=Ihsan |last1=Yilmaz |first2=Raja M. Ali |last2=Saleem |date=1 March 2022 |journal=Populism & Politics |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.55271/pp0010 |publisher=European Center for Populism Studies |page=11 |quote=Perhaps the most famous left-wing populist general was the Argentinian Juan Perón, who became the face of socialist populism (Calvo, 2021; Gillespie, 2019).}}|{{cite book |title=Between Tyranny and Anarchy: A History of Democracy in Latin America, 1800-2006 |year=2009 |first=Paul W. |last=Drake |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford, California |isbn=978-0-8047-6002-7 |quote=This priority for elitist order became a recurrent anthem on the right, from Venezuelan Simon Bolívar in the 1820s, to Chilean Diego Portales in the 1830s, to Argentines Juan Bautista Alberdi and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento in the 1850s, to Uruguayan José Enrique Rodó in the 1900s, to Chilean Augusto Pinochet and his plans in the 1980s for a democracy constrained by authoritarian features. '''By contrast, popular democracy became a lasting refrain on the left''' from Mexican Miguel Hidalgo in the 1810s, to the Mexican revolutionaries in the 1910s, to Peruvian Victor Raul Haya de la orre in the 1930s, to the Guatemalan revolutionaries and '''Argentine Juan Perón''' and Venezuelan Romulo Betancourt in the 1940s, to the National Revolutionary Movement in Bolivia in the 1950s, to Cuban Fidel Castro in the 1960s, to Chilean Salvador Allende and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas in the 1970s, to Peruvian Alan Garcia in the 1980s, to Venezuelan Hugo Chávez and Bolivian Evo Morales and Ecuadorean Rafael Correa in the 2000s. They placed a greater emphasis on mass mobilization dedicated to social equality.|page=18}}|{{cite journal |title=A Pious Paradox: Analyzing the Contradictory Paths of Chile and Argentina in Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Amidst Varying Levels of Religiosity |first1=Jacob |last1=Wesoky |publisher=McGill University |editor1=Gaya Karalasingam |editor2=Breanna Hillgartner |doi=10.26443/firr.v14i2.169 |volume=14 |issue=2 |year=2024 |journal=Flux: International Relations Review |url=https://fluxirr.mcgill.ca/article/view/169 |page=83 |quote="Starting in the 1940s, Juan Perón, an Argentine military officer and later secretary of labor amassed support from the working class and quickly became Argentina's most popular politician. His left-wing populist, nationalist, and corporatist ideology, known as Peronism, continued to shape Argentine politics, before and after the 1976-1983 military dictatorship."|doi-access=free }}|{{cite book |title=Populist Leaders and the Economy |url=https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03881225/file/2022_funke_schularick_trebesch_populist_leaders_and_the_economy.pdf |first1=Manuel |last1=Funke |first2=Moritz |last2=Schularick |first3=Christoph |last3=Trebesch |issn=0265-8003 |date=23 October 2020 |page=91 |quote=Juan Perón ruled Argentina as president from 1946 to 1955 and 1973 to 1974. He led 'an anti-elitist movement that opposed the landowner oligarchy and established institutions' (Filc 2011, 228f). (...) With a view to the economy, he stressed social justice (Eatwell 2017a, Rooduijn 2014, Tamarin 1982), 'railed against the idle and exploitative rich' (Eatwell 2017a, 375) and against 'the local oligarchy, the foreign investors, and their political representatives' (Barbieri 2015). In his discourse the "main distinction between the people and the elite was of socioeconomic status' (Barbieri 2015, 217). He is therefore coded as left-wing populist.'}}|{{cite journal |title=Immigration and institutional change: Did mass immigration cause peronism in argentina? |volume=184 |issue=1 |journal=Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization |year=2021 |author1=Nicolás Cachanosky |author2=Alexandre Padilla |author3=Alejandro Gómez |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1016/j.jebo.2021.01.027 |s2cid=233580827 |quote=We find no direct link between mass immigration and the rise of Peronism in Argentina. Even though immigrants were a crucial factor in Argentina's social and economic development, the rise of Perón and left-of-center populism resulted from politics unrelated to immigrants' presence. (...) Perón, not the preceding military governments, pushed government spending beyond its sustainable levels in a typical left-populist fashion (Dornbusch and Edwards, 1990).}}|{{cite book |title=Argentina 1943-1976: The National Revolution and Resistance |isbn=0-8263-0422-2 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |year=1976 |first=Donald C. |last=Hodges |author-link=Donald C. Hodges |page=30 |quote=Actually, the terms 'Nasserism' and 'Peronism' are interchangeable when applied to the younger generation of left-wing officers in Latin America.}}|{{cite book |title=Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War |publisher=Vintage Books |first=Jorge |last=Castañeda Gutman |author-link=Jorge Castañeda Gutman |year=1994 |isbn=0-394-58259-4 |pages=39–40 |quote=Until the Cuban Revolution, Communist parties had shared the Latin American left's political stage with another broad political current that today partially retains its importance. The national-popular sectors that embody this movement trace their origins back to Latin America's so-called 'populist' tradition that surfaced in the 1930s. Peron in Argentina, Cardenas in Mexico, Vargas in Brazil, Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra in Ecuador, Haya de la Torre's APRA in Peru, and, up to a point, Victor Paz Estenssoro's Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario in Bolivia often continue to be central historical reference points for many contemporary political movements. These movements' original leaders, together with the historical periods of collective consciousness and popular enfranchisement, are symbols of an era and a certain idea of modernity in Latin America: the inclusion of the excluded.}}|{{Harvnb|Gansley-Ortiz|2018}}|{{cite book |title=The Social Semiotics of Populism |first=Sebastián Moreno |last=Barreneche |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-3502-0541-3 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |page=138 |quote=In the case of Menem, this is particularly interesting because of his affiliation to Peronism, a left-wing political movement that originates in the politics of Perón (Grimson, 2019).}}|{{cite book |title=The New Latin American Left: Utopia Reborn |first1=Patrick |last1=Barrett |first2=Daniel |last2=Chavez |first3=César |last3=Rodríguez-Garavito |isbn=9780745326771 |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2008 |quote=The nationalist, or popular left, which included such figures as Juan Domingo Perón (in Argentina), Getulio Vargas (in Brazil) and Lázaro Cárdenas (in Mexico). |page=6}}|{{cite book |title=Emerging Markets and the State: Developmentalism in the 21st Century |first=Christopher |last=Wylde |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-55654-7 |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-55655-4 |year=2017 |pages=138–139 |quote=Perón and Peronismo (Peronism) therefore represented a form of leftist–populist nationalism, rooted in an urban working-class movement that was allied to elements of the domestic bourgeoisie as well as the military.}}|{{cite book |title=Latin America's Pink Tide: Breakthroughs and Shortcomings |first=Steve |last=Ellner |year=2020 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538125649 |page=7 |quote=These writers also argue that twenty-first-century Latin American leftist governments, like Peronism in the 1940s, were doomed to failure since the success of their defiance of powerful actors was contingent on the indefinite duration of favorable international markets for their nations' exports.}}|{{cite journal |title=On Latin American Populism, and Its Echoes around the World |first=Sebastian |last=Edwards |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=33 |issue=4 |year=2019 |doi=10.1257/jep.33.4.76 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |page=81 |quote="Juan Domingo Perón - left, nationalist."}}}}</ref> however, political scientists such as Anthony W. Pereira also note that left-wing populists such as Perón "may share important elements with their right-wing counterparts."<ref>{{cite book |title=Right-Wing Populism in Latin America and Beyond |page=2 |first=Anthony |last=W. Pereira |year=2023 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-31167-6 |doi=10.4324/9781003311676}}</ref> Carlos de la Torre and Oscar Mazzoleni also stressed this ambiguity, arguing that the main difference between left-wing and right-wing populisms is the economic focus of the former and social focus of the latter.<ref>{{cite book |title=Populism and Key Concepts in Social and Political Theory |first1=Carlos |last1=de la Torre |first2=Oscar |last2=Mazzoleni |publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV |isbn=978-90-04-67901-6 |year=2023 |location=Leiden |page=125}}</ref> Political scientist Pierre Ostiguy argues that it is "structural and intuitive" to classify Peronism as left-leaning, especially given its electoral base and dependency on trade unions. He added that "Perón could absolutely not, as the ordinary working class well understood, be considered on the right. He thus shared a position with the leftist political parties, in the opposite camp."<ref>{{cite book |title=Argentina's Double Political Spectrum: Party System, Political Identities, and Strategies, 1944-2007 |first=Pierre |last=Ostiguy |publisher=Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies |year=2009 |pages=75–80}}</ref> Pierre Ostiguy defined it as "a brand of populism that sought to deny elites’ and capitalism's power, empower working class constituents, and help the politically and economically oppressed."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ostiguy |first=Pierre |title=Argentina's Double Political Spectrum: Party System, Political Identities, and Strategies, 1944-2007 |publisher=Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies |year=2009 |page=3}}</ref>

However, some described Peronism as a Latin American form of [[fascism]] instead.<ref name="Hayes 1973">{{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Paul |title=Fascism |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-04-320090-2 |location=London |oclc=862679}}</ref><ref name="peronism">Brennan, James P. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AsuoVCbF7DgC&q=Fayt ''Peronism and Argentina'']. Rowman & Littlefield. 1998.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Montes de Oca |first=Ignacio |title=El fascismo argentino - La matriz autoritaria del peronismo |publisher=Sudamericana |year=2018 |isbn=9789500761680 |language=Spanish}}</ref> Criticizing identifying Peronism as right-wing or fascism, Robert D. Crassweller remarked: "a movement whose founder spends his life combating the economic and social elite, whose great contribution was to bring the anonymous masses into the political and economic mainstream, and whose lifelong electoral base was principally organized labor, can hardly be deemed rightist."<ref name="Crass1"/> Beyond Perón, the Peronist movement itself has many factions - [[Kirchnerism]]<ref>{{bulleted list|{{cite book |last=Conniff |first=Michael L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IBwkeEfBgUC |title=Populism in Latin America: Second Edition |date=31 July 2012 |publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]] |isbn=9780817357092 |language=en}}|{{Cite web|url=https://www.clarin.com/politica/pichetto-unidad-ciudadana-frente-centro-izquierda-randazzo-posicion-historica-peronismo_0_HyS9Z8ZXb.html|title=Para Pichetto, Unidad Ciudadana es un frente de centro izquierda y Randazzo, la "posición histórica del peronismo"|website=www.clarin.com|date=16 June 2017 }}|{{cite web|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/argentinas-peronist-repeat-11572262196|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|title=Argentina's Peronist Repeat|date=28 October 2019}}|{{cite news|title=Argentina shifts to the right after Mauricio Macri wins presidential runoff|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/22/argentina-election-exit-polls-buenos-aires-mauricio-macri|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 23, 2015}}|{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324328204578576053901784268|title=Argentine President Stumps for Congressional Candidates|quote=Speaking to thousands of supporters in a packed soccer stadium, Mrs. Kirchner stumped for the candidates who will represent her left-wing coalition, the FPV, in October's vote.|date=29 June 2013|access-date=13 February 2020|work=The Wall Street Journal}}|{{cite news|title= Argentinian president Macri vows 'many reforms' after strong election result|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/argentina-president-macri-reforms-election|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 24, 2017}}|{{cite news |date=April 18, 2006 |title=Analysis: Latin America's new left axis |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4916270.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=January 25, 2010}}|{{Cite web |date=2010-05-29 |title=Kirchnerismo bolivariano del siglo XXI |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/opinion/kirchnerismo-bolivariano-del-siglo-xxi-nid1269583/ |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=LA NACION |language=es}}}}</ref> and [[revolutionary Peronism]]<ref>{{bulleted list|{{cite book |last=Larraquy |first=Marcelo |title=De Perón a Montoneros: historia de la violencia política en la Argentina: marcados a fuego II (1945-1973) |publisher=Aguilar |year=2010 |isbn=978-987-04-1489-6 |pages=122–123 |language=es}}|{{cite book |last=Gillespie |first=Richard |title=Soldiers of Peron: Argentina's Montoneros |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1982 |isbn=0-19-821131-7 |pages=36–37}}}}</ref> on the left, and [[Federal Peronism]]<ref>{{bulleted list|{{cite news |date=10 June 2010 |title=Acuerdo del PJ disidente: enfrentará a Kirchner |trans-title=Agreement of the dissident PJ: will confront Kirchner |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/acuerdo-del-pj-disidente-enfrentara-a-kirchner-nid1273537 |access-date=7 August 2019 |work=[[La Nación]] |language=es}}|{{Cite web |last=ABDO |first=GERARDO DAVID OMAR |date=2014-11-13 |title=Peronismo Federal: ambicion y despretigio hechos fuerza politica |url=https://www.monografias.com/trabajos102/peronismo-federal-ambicion-y-despretigio-hechos-fuerza-politica/peronismo-federal-ambicion-y-despretigio-hechos-fuerza-politica |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Monografias.com |language=es}}|{{Cite web |title=Peronismo Federal: todos unidos perderemos |url=https://www.lapoliticaonline.com/julio-barbaro/columna-427/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=www.lapoliticaonline.com}}|{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e73ZDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22+right-wing%22+%22united+for+a+new+alternative%22&pg=PA15 |title=Argentina Business Law Handbook Volume 2 Investment, Trade Laws and Regulations |date=2016-04-18 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-57751-825-9 |language=en}}}}</ref> and [[Orthodox Peronism]]<ref>{{bulleted list|{{Cite journal |last=Besoky |first=Juan Luis |date=2018-01-05 |title=Los muchachos peronistas antijudíos. A propósito del antisemitismo en el movimiento peronista |url=https://www.trabajosycomunicaciones.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/article/view/TyCe057 |journal=Trabajos y Comunicaciones |language=es |issue=47 |pages=e057 |doi=10.24215/23468971e057 |issn=2346-8971 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=11336/86568}}|{{Cite journal |last=Besoky |first=Juan Luis |date=24 May 2013 |title=La derecha peronista en perspectiva |url=https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/65374 |journal=Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos. Nouveaux Mondes Mondes Nouveaux – Novo Mundo Mundos Novos – New World New Worlds |language=es |doi=10.4000/nuevomundo.65374 |issn=1626-0252 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11336/4140}}|{{Cite journal |last=Besoky |first=Juan Luis |date=2010 |title=La revista El Caudillo de la Tercera Posición: órgano de expresión de la extrema derecha. |url=https://publicaciones.sociales.uba.ar/index.php/CS/article/view/410 |journal=Conflicto Social |language=es |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=7–28 |issn=1852-2262}}|{{Cite book |last=Besoky |first=Juan Luis |title=Loyal and Orthodox, the Peronist right. A coalition against revolutionary? |year= |location=Argentina |pages=https://www.ungs.edu.ar/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Besoki.pdf |language=Spanish}}}}</ref> on the right. The [[Justicialist Party]] created by Perón is generally placed on the left of the political spectrum.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://drodrik.scholar.harvard.edu/files/dani-rodrik/files/populism_and_the_economics_of_globalization.pdf |title=Populism and the economics of globalization |first=Dani |last=Rodrik |journal=Journal of International Business Policy |year=2018 |publisher=Academy of International Business |doi=10.1057/s42214-018-0001-4 |page=21 |volume=4 |issue=1}}</ref>

Peronism is described as socialist by many political scientists,<ref>{{cite book |author=James P. Brennan |url=https://archive.org/details/peronismargentin0000unse |title=Peronism and Argentina |publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc. |year=1998 |isbn=0-8420-2706-8 |page=22 |quote=One way to approach the problem might be to order the existing interpretations of Peronism into a three-tiered scheme that would group two competing schools of interpretation linked to Peronism's own internal debate (that is, alternative interpretations coming from within the movement's ranks) with a third, an exogenous perspective. The latter corresponds to the thesis that Peronism is a variant of fascism, with all the negative connotations that such a categorization implies. The former two do not present such a one-dimensional interpretation, as within each there is found a polemic, alternately recriminatory and approbative, sustained among Peronist, conservative, and socialist authors. These are the interpretations that on the one hand revolve around the concept of populism (at times National Populism), and on the other those interpretations that can be categorized as a form of Socialism (at times National Socialism), with revolutionary implications.}}</ref> classified as a variant of nationalist socialism,<ref name="james_241">{{cite book |last=James |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel James (historian) |title=Resistance and integration: Peronism and the Argentine working class, 1946-1976 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-521-46682-2 |page=241}}</ref> paternalistic socialism,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Pelican Latin American Library: Guide to the Political Parties of South America |year=1973 |last1=Jean-Pierre |first1=Arthur Bernard |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Michigan |isbn=9780140216257 |page=39 |quote="The regime that was progressively establishing itself in Argentina may be described as populist - a combination of demagogy, nationalism, opportunism and paternalistic socialism."}}</ref> non-Marxist socialism,<ref>{{cite book |author=James P. Brennan |url=https://archive.org/details/peronismargentin0000unse |title=Peronism and Argentina |publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc. |year=1998 |isbn=0-8420-2706-8 |page=28}}</ref> and [[Christian socialism|Catholic socialism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hodges |first=Donald |author-link=Donald C. Hodges |title=Argentina's "Dirty War": An Intellectual Biography |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-292-77689-0 |location=[[Austin, Texas]] |page=56 |quote=Consequently, Peron settled for the term 'justicialism.' The odds clearly favored his Christian and humanist version of socialism.}}</ref> Political scientists supporting this view note that Perón created a planned and heavily regulated economy, with "a massive public sector of nationalized industries and social services" that was "redistributive in nature" and prioritized workers' benefits and the empowerment of trade unions.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Socialist Impulse: Latin America in the Twentieth Century |first=Charles D. |last=Ameringer |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8130-3812-4 |page=165}}</ref> Perón's close relationship with a socialist leader [[Juan José Arévalo]] and his extensive support for the [[Bolivian National Revolution]] are also considered arguments in favor of this view.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Socialist Impulse: Latin America in the Twentieth Century |first=Charles D. |last=Ameringer |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8130-3812-4 |page=169}}</ref> Additionally, despite promoting a concept of a "Third Way" between the 'imperialisms' of the United States and Soviet Union, Perón supported and became a close ally of the [[Cuban Revolution]], [[Salvador Allende]] of Chile, and the [[People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hodges |first=Donald |author-link=Donald C. Hodges |title=Argentina's "Dirty War": An Intellectual Biography |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-292-77689-0 |location=[[Austin, Texas]] |page=80}}</ref> It is also noted that the Marxist revolutionary [[Che Guevara]], despite being born in an anti-Peronist family, considered Peronism "a kind of indigenous Latin American socialism with which the Cuban Revolution could side".<ref>{{cite book |title=Juan Perón: The Life of the People's Colonel |pages=200–201 |first=Jill |last=Hedges |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-0-7556-0268-1 |year=2021}}</ref> Perónism thought is considered a genuine socialist ideology by some Marxist writers such as [[Samir Amin]],<ref name="Amin 2019 277">{{cite book |title=The Long Revolution of the Global South: Toward a New Anti-Imperialist International |first=Samir |last=Amin |author-link=Samir Amin |translator=James Membrez |year=2019 |publisher=Monthly Review Press |isbn=9781583677766 |page=277}}</ref> [[José María Aricó]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=A strange mixture of Guevara and Togliatti: José María Aricó and the Pasado y Presente group in Argentina |url=https://www.aacademica.org/constanza.bosch/24.pdf |journal=Historical Materialism |volume=22 |issue=3–4 |year=2014 |pages=1–33 |publisher=Brill |last1=Gaido |first1=Daniel |last2=Bosch |first2=Alessio |last3=Constanza |first3=Daniela}}</ref> [[:de:Dieter Boris|Dieter Boris]],<ref>{{cite book |first1=Dieter |last1=Boris |author-link1=:de:Dieter Boris |first2=Peter |last2=Hiedl |title=Argentinien: Geschichte und Politische Gegenwart |location=Cologne |publisher=Pahl-Rugenstein |year=1978 |language=de |page=181}}</ref> and [[Donald C. Hodges]].<ref name="Hodges 1991 56"/>

Summarizing the historical and political debates on the ideological nature of Peronism, Czech political scientists [[:cs:Pavlína Springerová|Pavlína Springerová]] and [[:cs:Jiří Chalupa|Jiří Chalupa]] stressed the dominance of the view that Peronism was some kind of socialism, and wrote: "Historians and political scientists over time defined Peronism as Christian socialism, national socialism, demagogic dictatorship, plebiscitary presidential system, state socialism, non-Marxist collectivism, worker democracy or national capitalism".<ref>{{cite book |title=Election Year 2006: Latin America at the Crossroads? |first1=Pavlína |last1=Springerová |first2=Lenka |last2=Špičanová |first3=Jan |last3=Němec |first4=Jiří |last4=Chalupa |author-link1=:cs:Pavlína Springerová |author-link4=:cs:Jiří Chalupa |chapter=Statesmen in uniforms: Several notes about militarism in politics in the modern history of the Latin America |isbn=978-80-87092-03-3 |year=2008 |publisher=Association for International Affairs (AMO) |location=Prague |page=34}}</ref> Some historians also consider [[Peronism#Nasserism|Peronism to be a variant of Nasserism]], which defines it as an ideology based on "middle-class military men who would utilize the armed forces to forge a socialist transformation of society."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.nd.edu/pr/pdf/PR_1967_02.pdf |publisher=University of Notre Dame |first1=James E. |last1=Murphy |title=For Immediate Release |date=9 February 1967 |page=8}}</ref> Mariano Mestman wrote that "Peronism was proposing a type of Socialism at times called ‘national’, different from that postulated by the classical Marxist left but no less revolutionary".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Third Cinema/Militant Cinema: At the Origins of the Argentinian Experience (1968–1971) |first=Mariano |last=Mestman |year=2011 |journal=Third Text |volume=25 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/09528822.2011.5456 |page=35 |publisher=Routledge |doi-broken-date=2024-11-26 |issn=0952-8822 |url=https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/191625}}</ref>

There are also alternative evaluations of Peronism that go beyond the most common labels for Peronism such as socialism, fascism, or arguments that Peronism transcends the left-right divide.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reinventing our understanding of the Left-Right political dichotomy: the case of Argentina |url=https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/ingsuht/article/1006/&path_info=Reinventing_our_understanding_of_the_Left_Right_political_dichotomy__the_case_of_Argentina.pdf |page=38 |first=Sol |last=Halle |year=2022 |journal=International and Global Studies 
 |volume=5}}</ref> Some scholars evaluated Peronism as a [[social democratic]] ideology instead,<ref>{{cite book |title=A populist Zeitgeist? The impact of populism on parties, media and the public in Western Europe |first=Matthijs |last=Rooduijn |year=2013 |isbn=978-90-9027334-1 |location=Amsterdam |page=36}}</ref> or even [[paternalistic conservatism]],<ref>{{cite book |title=The Labor Wars in Cordoba, 1955-1976: Ideology, Work, and Labor Politics in an Argentine Industrial Society |date=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674028753 |editor=James Brennan |page=9}}</ref> with a mixture of militant [[laborism|labourism]] and [[traditional conservatism]].<ref name="conservatism">{{cite book |title=Juan Perón and the Reshaping of Argentina |date=1983 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Pre |isbn=9780822976363 |editor1=Frederick Turner |page=173 |editor2=Jose Enrique Miguens}}</ref> However, whether Peronism was conservative is heavily disputed, as the proponents of Peronism see it as socially [[progressivism|progressive]].<ref name="progressivism" /> Peronism has also been described as socially progressive by some political analysts,<ref>{{cite web |first=Christopher |last=Lindrud |url=https://www.integrityriskintl.com/dont-cry-for-milei-argentina/ |title=Don't Cry for Milei, Argentina |date=3 May 2024 |website=integrityriskintl.com |quote="Perónism is both fiercely nationalist yet also socially progressive, centering the state as the ultimate powerbroker between labor and capital."}}</ref> as well as by historians such as [[:es:Luis Alberto Romero (historiador)|Luis Alberto Romero]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century: Updated and Revised Edition |translator=James P. Brennan |first=Luis Alberto |last=Romero |author-link=:es:Luis Alberto Romero (historiador) |year=2013 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-06228-0 |page=98 |quote="The Radical program was socially progressive—perhaps just as much as Perón's—but its impact was attenuated by the enthusiastic support the Democratic Union received from the employers’ organizations."}}</ref> The main Peronist party is the [[Justicialist Party]],<ref name="economist" /> whose policies have significantly varied over time and across government administrations,<ref name="economist" /> but have generally been described as "a vague blend of [[nationalism]] and [[labourism]]",<ref name="economist" /> or populism.<ref name="britannica" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Kyle |first1=Jordan |last2=Gultchin |first2=Limor |date=November 2018 |title=Populists in Power Around the World |url=https://institute.global/insight/renewing-centre/populists-power-around-world |language=en |access-date=2019-12-05 |website=Institute for Global Change}}</ref> [[Alan Knight (historian)|Alan Knight]] argues that Peronism is similar to [[Bolivarian Revolution]] and the [[Mexican Revolution]] in terms of consequences and ideology, noting that while Peronism was "socially progressive, but politically ambiguous", it brought the Argentinian working class significant material benefits as well as political empowerment and social inclusion. Ultimately, Knight recommends the term "revolutionary populism" for Peronism.<ref name="knight">{{cite journal |title=Democratic and Revolutionary Traditions in Latin America |first=Alan |last=Knight |author-link=Alan Knight (historian) |journal=Bulletin of Latin American Research |volume=20 |issue=2 |year=2001 |pages=147–186 |publisher=Wiley on behalf of Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)|doi=10.1111/1470-9856.00009 }}</ref>

===Self-description===
Perón himself described his ideology and his movement as left-wing, writing in September 1973: "Peronism is a left-wing movement. But the left that we advocate is a Justicialist left above all things; it is not a communist or anarchist left. It is a Justicialist left that wants to achieve a community where each Argentine can flourish."<ref>{{cite book |title=Argentina's Lost Patrol: Armed Struggle 1969-1979 |first=Maria Jose |last=Moyano |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-300-06122-6 |location=New Haven and London |page=37}}</ref> Perón named [[Christian socialism]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Harold Laski]] his main political inspirations.<ref name="ocampos">{{cite journal |title=Capitalism, Populism and Democracy: Revisiting Samuelson’s Reformulation of Schumpeter |date=21 December 2023 |issn=1668-4583 |editor=Jorge M. Streb |doi=10.5209/ijhe.90271 |journal=Iberian Journal of the History of Economic Thought |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=91-103 |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/IJHE/article/view/90271|doi-access=free }}</ref> He argued that his main goal was to implement and declare "economic independence" of Argentina, which he sought to achieve by nationalization of Argentinian resources, state control of the economy, curtailing multinational and foreign companies, redistribution of wealth, asserting the "power of the working class", and abolishing capitalism that the Peronists denounced as elitist and "antinational". By 1973, the slogan adopted by Perón became "dependency or liberation".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Pedagogy of Revolution and Counterrevolution in Cold War Argentina, 1966-1983 |first=Federico |last=Sor |publisher=ProQuest LLC. |year=2016 |location=New York |page=1}}</ref> In July 1971, Perón also claimed that his ideology of justicialism is socialist:
{{blockquote|text=For us Justicialist Government is that which serves the people . . . our revolutionary process articulates individual and collective [needs], it is one form of socialism. Therefore a fair socialism, like the one Justicialism wants, and that is why it is called Justicialism, is that in which a community develops in agreement with [the community's] intrinsic conditions.<ref name="lostpat33">{{cite book |title=Argentina's Lost Patrol: Armed Struggle 1969-1979 |first=Maria Jose |last=Moyano |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-300-06122-6 |location=New Haven and London |page=33}}</ref>}}

However, despite Perón's declarations, the movement itself was split into left-wing and right-wing factions, vying for supremacy within the movement.<ref>{{cite book |title=Argentina's Lost Patrol: Armed Struggle 1969-1979 |first=Maria Jose |last=Moyano |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-300-06122-6 |location=New Haven and London |page=34}}</ref> While all Peronists claimed to adhere to the ideas of Perón, their interpretation of Perón's intentions varied greatly. Left-wing Peronists believed that the goal of Perón was to establish "the socialist nation", while right-wing Peronists argued that Perón's vision is more similar to corporatism rather than socialism, and that Perón's vision is one of establishing an "organized community".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Pedagogy of Revolution and Counterrevolution in Cold War Argentina, 1966-1983 |first=Federico |last=Sor |publisher=ProQuest LLC. |year=2016 |location=New York |page=18}}</ref> Perón himself used very vague terms such as ''socialismo nacional'' ("national socialism"), which he described as being based on Christian social values and aiming to overthrow the "imperialist slavery" of Argentina.<ref>{{cite thesis |title=The Geopolitics of Juan Perón: A New Order for an Imperfect World |first=Robert D. |last=Koch |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10102&context=etd |degree=Doctor of Philosophy in History |publisher=University of South Florida |date=27 March 2020 |page=223}}</ref> Here, Perón argued that his version of socialism was not Marxist but Christian, and that it was a "national variant of socialism", and that it differed from capitalism on the basis of being a "just social order".<ref name="bren1011">{{cite book |title=Peronism and Argentina |author=James P. Brennan |year=1998 |publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc. |isbn=0-8420-2706-8  |url=https://archive.org/details/peronismargentin0000unse |pages=10–11}}</ref> While seemingly favoring the left-wing Peronism, Perón's "national socialism" was interpreted in very diverse ways, including being conflated with Nazism by fringe groups of far-right Peronists. The commonly accepted interpretation however, is that Perón meant "a ‘national’ road to socialism, understood as a system of economic socialization and popular power respectful of specific national conditions and traditions."<ref name="3839gillespie"/>

Perón consistently identified with socialist figures - he praised Che Guevara, and spoke sympathetically of [[Mao Zedong]] as “this little Chinese man who steals my ideas.” He described Peronism as national form of socialism that was to end the capitalist exploitation of Argentina and fight imperialism. Perón expressed deep affinity to Maoism, writing: "The refusal of Mao to side with colonialism lays the foundation of the ‘Third World’ in which the different socialist democracies can get along perfectly. There is no reason for nationalism and socialism to quarrel. Both can unite with the common objective of liberating the pueblos."<ref>{{cite book |title=Argentina's Double Political Spectrum: Party System, Political Identities, and Strategies, 1944-2007 |first=Pierre |last=Ostiguy |publisher=Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies |year=2009 |pages=2;77}}</ref> Perón additionally stated that "Marxism is not only not in contradiction with the Peronist Movement, but complements it."; he excused his initially anti-communist rhetoric as opposition to the Argentine "communist orthodoxy" that opposed him, which he considered to be "on the side of the oligarchy or Braden's arm".<ref name="friede"/>

===Development===
Peronism gained popularity in Argentina after the failure of its government to listen and recognize the needs of its middle class. As president of Argentina, [[Hipólito Yrigoyen]] did not listen to the workers' pleas for better wages and better working conditions after World War I. Yrigoyen was notorious for failing to oppose Argentina's oligarchy. According to [[Teresa Meade]] in ''A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present'', Yrigoyen failed "to establish a middle-class-based political system from 1916 to 1930 – mainly because his Radical Civic Union had neither the will nor the means to effectively oppose the dominance of the oligarchy".<ref name="Meade, T. A. 2016 p.202">Meade, T. A. (2016). ''A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present''. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 202 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Many in power did not work to change the way things were. However, Juan Perón, at that time a military officer, used his experiences in Europe and political power to create a new political atmosphere that he felt would better the lives of citizens in Argentina.<ref>Minster, C. (2019, July 28). Biography of Juan Perón, Argentina's Populist President. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-juan-peron-2136581</ref>

Unlike Yrigoyen, Perón "recognized that the industrial working class was not necessarily an impediment, and could be mobilized to serve as the basis for building a corporatist state that joined the interests of labor with those of at least a large section of the national bourgeoisie to promote a nationalist agenda".<ref name="Meade, T. A. 2016 p.202"/>

Perón was yet unknown to the general public in the 1930s, but he already had high respect in the Argentinian army; he served as a military attaché between 1938 and 1940, and quickly gained a prestigious political position following the [[1943 Argentine coup d'état]]. He took over the Labor Department in October 1943 and started cementing his reputation as the ally of the Argentinian trade unions, describing himself as a "labor unionist" (''sindicalista'') in an interview with a Chilean journalist. In November 1943, the national labour department was replaced by a new department for labour and welfare, which gave Perón enormous influence over the economy. Perón presented himself as a Catholic labourist committed to the ideals of "harmony" and "distributive justice". First breakthrough in his political career came with the settlement with [[:es:Unión Ferroviaria|Unión Ferroviaria]] in December 1943, which was the largest railroad union in Argentina at the time. Perón "offered the union almost everything it had been seeking, until now in vain, during the past fifteen years", which gave him the reputation of the "Argentina's Number One Worker" amongst railroad unionists.<ref>{{cite book |title=Authoritarian Argentina: The Nationalist Movement, Its History and Its Impact |first=David |last=Rock |author-link=David Rock (historian) |year=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-20352-6 |page=142}}</ref>

In January 1944, General [[Pedro Pablo Ramírez]] fell from power following the revelation of secret negotiations between Nazi Germany and Argentinian junta. The junta was forced to break diplomatic relations with the Axis and purge its cabinet of pro-Axis members. Ramírez was replaced by moderate [[Edelmiro Julián Farrell]], which prompted protests from nationalist circles - in [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán]], flags on government buildings flew at half-mast in sign of protest. Perón further expanded his power, as he took over the ministry of war that Farrell commanded before becoming president. In March 1944, railroad workers organized a demonstration in support of Perón, and in June, he was able to take control over metalworkers' union [[:es:Unión Obrera Metalúrgica|Unión Obrera Metalúrgica]]. Perón's speech from 11 June introduced the concept of "nation in arms", where he called war an inevitable consequence of human condition. According to Perón, a nation could win a war only if it would "develop true . . . solidarity [and] create a strong sense of discipline and personal responsibility in the people." The speech was commonly cited by domestic and international opponents of Perón, who accused him of fascist sympathies. The junta suffered a massive decline in prestige in August 1944, as the liberation of Paris sparked massive pro-Allied demonstrations in Argentina, in which the protesters called for the resignation of the junta for its Nazi sympathies.<ref>{{harvnb|Rock|1993|p=145}}</ref>

Perón would sharply reconfigure his views and speeches in late 1944, as the nationalist junta was facing intense pressure to reform and hold elections. He declared that his ultimate goal is to introduce "true democracy" in Argentina, and began searching for allies amongst the middle and upper classes. However, as he was rejected by the Radical circles, Perón committed himself to developing his popularity amongst the working class. Historian [[David Rock (historian)|David Rock]] remarked that "Perón again found himself forced back on the support of the unions alone and at this point openly embraced democratic socialism."<ref>{{harvnb|Rock|1993|p=152}}</ref> He praised the victory of the Labour Party in the [[1945 United Kingdom general election]], portraying it as proof of "humanity marching toward a new world" and urged Argentinian workers "to defend their rights for themselves if these rights were not to be taken away by their enemies." Perón also embraced the hitherto derogatory connotation of his supporters as "shirtless" (''descamisado''), which became a metaphor for poor and destitute worker that Peronism would lead towards a "national liberation".<ref>{{harvnb|Rock|1993|p=153}}</ref>

Using the term ''justicalismo'' to describe his ideology, Perón propagated it as ''socialismo nacional cristiano'' - "Christian national socialism", an unclear term that he used to discuss diverse government systems that in his belief corresponded to the will of the people while also considering the unique circumstances and culture of each nation.<ref>{{cite thesis |title=The Geopolitics of Juan Perón: A New Order for an Imperfect World |first=Robert D. |last=Koch |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10102&context=etd |degree=Doctor of Philosophy in History |publisher=University of South Florida |date=27 March 2020 |pages=4–5}}</ref> According to Richard Gillespie, this expression meant to convey "a ‘national’ road to socialism, understood as a system of economic socialization and popular power respectful of specific national conditions and traditions."<ref name="3839gillespie">{{cite book |title=Soldiers of Peron: Argentina's Montoneros |first=Richard |last=Gillespie |year=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-821131-7 |pages=38–39}}</ref> In 1967, Perón defended his notion of 'national socialism' by arguing that "nationalism need not be at odds with socialism", given that "both, in the end, far from being antagonistic, can be united with a common goal of liberation of peoples and men". In the September 1972 meeting of left-wing Peronist groups, Peronism was described as "the national expression of socialism, insofar as it represents, expresses and develops in action the aspirations of the popular masses and the Argentine working class". Peronism was regarded as a form of autochthonous socialism that was to grant "political and economic emancipation" to the workers of Argentina.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Entre el Gran Acuerdo Nacional y Trelew: alcances y significaciones de los conceptos de socialismo nacional y peronismo |journal=Quinto Sol |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1–19 |year=2022 |publisher=Universidad Nacional de La Pampa |language=es |first=Valeria |last=Caruso |doi=10.19137/qs.v26i1.5597|doi-access=free }}</ref> However, whether Peronism constituted a genuine socialist movement of non-Marxist nature is unclear. John J. Johnson and [[Kalman H. Silvert]] linked Peronism to Argentinian reactionary nationalism and concluded that it is a fascist movement, whereas [[:es:Juan José Hernández Arregui|Juan José Hernández Arregui]] and [[:es:Jorge Abelardo Ramos|Jorge Abelardo Ramos]] considered Peronism a variant of [[left-wing nationalism]] or a "revolutionary, anti-imperialist, nationalist movement".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Ideological Origins of Right and Left Nationalism in Argentina, 1930-43 |first=Alberto |last=Spektorowski |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |year=1994 |volume=29 |issue=1 |page=179 |publisher=Sage Publications, Ltd. |doi=10.1177/002200949402900106 |jstor=260959 |s2cid=154283372 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260959|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Jorge Castañeda Gutman]] describes Peronism as a national populist movement that "undoubtedly belongs on the left of the political spectrum."<ref>{{cite book |title=Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War |publisher=Vintage Books |first=Jorge |last=Castañeda Gutman |author-link=Jorge Castañeda Gutman |year=1994 |isbn=0-394-58259-4 |page=43}}</ref>

===Other assessments===
Peronism was a broad movement that encompassed several ideologies and concepts. Argentinian historian [[:es:Cristian Buchrucker|Cristian Buchrucker]] described it as a mixture of nationalist, populist and Christian socialist elements, while Humberto Cucchetti stated that Peronism was an accumulation of many political concepts such as "nationalist socialism, trade unionist tradition, nationalisation of the middle strata, charismatic leadership, revolutionary prophetism, Third Worldism, justicialist ethics, Christian utopia, popular mobilisation and outlines of democratisation".<ref>{{cite journal |year=2024 |first=Marina Martins |last=Chebly |title=Gender Bias and the Far-right Populism in Argentina |publisher=University of California San Diego |journal=UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt40f0f8bf/qt40f0f8bf_noSplash_3324f951c95001fd37be806dbdd226ed.pdf |page=16}}</ref> While the movement was in the state of constant struggle between competing ideological movements between it, it never abandoned trade unions and its "revolutionary rhetoric that claimed to assume directly the features of a nationalist liberation movement".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Redes sociales y retórica revolucionaria: una aproximación a la revista Las Bases (1971-1975) |first=Humberto |last=Cucchetti |issn=1626-0252 |journal=Nuevo Mundo, Mundos Nuevos |year=2008 |volume=12 |hdl=11336/30928 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/11336/30928 |language=es}}</ref>

In his autobiography titled ''[[My Life: A Spoken Autobiography]]'', [[Fidel Castro]] praised Perón as a revolutionary anti-imperialist who carried out social reforms. Castro also stated:
{{blockquote|text=There have been many heroic revolutionary feats on the part of military men in the twentieth century. Juan Domingo Perón, in Argentina, was also from a military background. (...) Perón made some mistakes: he offended the Argentine oligarchy, humiliated it - he nationalized its theatre and other symbols of the wealthy class - but the oligarchy's political and economic power remained intact, and at the right moment it brought Peron down, with the complicity and aid of the United States. Perón's greatness lay in the fact that he appealed to that rich country's reserves and resources and did all he could to improve the living conditions of the workers. That social class, which was always grateful and loyal to him, made Perón an idol, to the end of his life.<ref>{{cite book |title=My Life: A Spoken Autobiography |pages=611–612 |isbn=978-0-713-99920-4 |publisher=Penguin Group |year=2007 |first=Fidel |last=Castro |author-link=Fidel Castro |editor=Ignacio Ramonet}}</ref>}}

When Perón died in 1974, Castro declared three days of mourning and Cuban officials termed Peron's death "a blow to all Latin America". Castro noted the affinity and similarities between his ideology and Peronism, and cited Che Guevara letter's in which Che stated that "Peron was the most advanced embodiment of political and economic reform in Argentina".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/sam-dolgoff-the-cuban-revolution |title=The Cuban Revolution: A critical perspective |year=1977 |first=Sam |last=Dolgoff}}</ref> [[:es:Loris Zanatta|Loris Zanatta]] argues that both Castro and Perón represented "a case of ‘nationalist socialism’". According to Zanatto, Castro was "a full member of the same family" as Perón, and that "from Hugo Chávez to the Sandinista revolution, from liberation theology to radical indigenism, the chromosomes of Peronist ''national socialism'' recur in the Latin American populist tradition."<ref name="castrismo"/>

Perón was an important inspiration of [[Chavismo]], the ideology of [[Hugo Chávez]], who called himself "a true Peronist".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The populist economic policy paradigm: Early peronism as an archetype |year=2020 |first=Emilio |last=Ocampo |issue=731 |journal=Serie Documentos de Trabajo |publisher=Universidad del Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos de Argentina (UCEMA) |location=Buenos Aires |url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/238356/1/731.pdf |page=4}}</ref> Eric Hershberg, director of the Center of Latin American Studies, wrote: "For a number of years I've been struck by Chavismo as being the closest thing to Peronism that Latin America has seen in decades."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/0308/Chavez-funeral-lavish-nod-to-a-populist-touch-and-global-reach |title=Chavez funeral: lavish nod to a populist touch and global reach |date=8 March 2013 |location=Caracas |first=Ezra |last=Fieser|magazine=Christian Science Monitor }}</ref> Chávez's successor, [[Nicolás Maduro]], also stressed the ideological bond between Peronism and Chavismo. In July 2024, Maduro stated: "I am a Peronist and an Evista."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.clarin.com/politica/nicolas-maduro-insolito-proclamo-peronista-vivo-peron-peron-canto-soldados_0_flLijqtjuN.html |title=Nicolás Maduro, insólito: se proclamó peronista, vivó "Perón, Perón" y le cantó a "los soldados" |language=es |date=29 July 2024}}</ref>

Perón was also regarded positively by [[Mao Zedong]]. When visiting pro-Perón Maoist militias in Argentina, Mao reportedly stated: "If I were a young Argentinian, I would be a Peronist."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elagrario.com/actualidad-si-yo-fuera-un-joven-argentino-seria-peronista-dijo-mao-tse-tung-67838.html |title="Si yo fuera un joven argentino, sería Peronista", dijo Mao Tsé Tung |date=5 February 2022 |language=es |first=Luis |last=Chervo |website=El Agrario}}</ref> This quote was promoted by the [[Revolutionary Communist Party (Argentina)|Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina]], who advertized their movement by stating: "If Mao had been Argentine, he would have been a Peronist."<ref>{{cite book |title=Social and Political Transitions During the Left Turn in Latin America |first1=Karen |last1=Silva-Torres |first2=Carolina |last2=Rozo-Higuera |first3=Daniel S. |last3=Leon |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-003-16133-2 |doi=10.4324/9781003161332 |publisher=Routledge |page=195}}</ref> Perón responded in kind, writing that "Marxism is not only not in contradiction with the Peronist Movement, but complements it." Perón also argued in his speech from 12 November 1972: "We must not be frightened by the word socialism". Perón stated that "if he had been Chinese he would be a Maoist", and on his trip to Communist Romania he concluded that "the regime in that country is similar, in many respects, to Justicialism".<ref>{{cite journal |title=El marxismo peronista de Rodolfo Puiggrós: Una aproximación a la izquierda nacional |language=es |date=March 2014 |first=Sergio |last=Friedemann |journal=Documentos de Jóvenes Investigadores |issue=39 |isbn=978-987-28642-4-8 |publisher=Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani |url=https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/186785}}</ref>

Peronism was supported by [[Joseph Stalin]] due to its hostility towards the United States,<ref name="rapo1"/> and after Perón's removal from power, the Soviet government had "a certain nostalgia for the Peronist government".<ref name="rapo2"/> American historian Garrett John Roberts, who described Peronism as an "ultranationalist socialist labor movement" and Perón's policies as "socialist and nationalist", states that there was some affinity between Perón and Stalin, as Perón modeled his Five Year Plan on the economic plans carried out by Stalin.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Peron's Fall: U.S./Argentine Relations between 1945-1956 |first=Garrett John |last=Roberts |publisher=Brigham Young University |year=2001 |location=Provo |journal=Auraria Library |url=https://digital.auraria.edu/work/sc/41899ff7-1230-4e34-9715-ce5c534ad403 |pages=10–14}}</ref> [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Socialist Yugoslavia]] was also said to have expressed interest and fascination with Peronism in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Socialist Yugoslavia and the Non-Aligned Movement: Social, Cultural, Political, and Economic Imaginaries |first=Paul |last=Stubbs |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-2280-1580-2 |page=288}}</ref>

''[[The Economist]]'' has called Peronism "an alliance between trade unions and the "[[caudillo]]s" of the backward north".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Carlos Menem, a conservative caudillo, tarnished liberalism|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/02/17/carlos-menem-a-conservative-caudillo-tarnished-liberalism|date=2021-02-20|access-date=2021-03-04|newspaper=[[The Economist]]}}</ref>

Chilean [[Christian Democratic Party (Chile)|senator]] [[Ignacio Walker]] has criticized Peronism as having "Fascistoid", "authoritarian" and "corporative" traits and a "perverse logic" considering this "the real wall between Chile and Argentina" and "not the Andes".<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Ignacio |date=May 6, 2004 |title=Ignacio Walker: "Nuestros vecinos argentinos" |url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/2004/10/04/160124/ignacio-walker-nuestros-vecinos-argentinos.html |newspaper=[[El Mercurio]] |location=Santiago, Chile |access-date=May 26, 2014}}</ref>

Defenders of Peronism also describe the [[doctrine]] as populist, albeit in the sense that they believe it embodies the interests of the masses and in particular the most vulnerable social strata. Admirers hold Perón in esteem for his administration's [[anti-imperialism]] and [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-alignment]] as well as its socially [[progressivism|progressive]] initiatives.<ref name="progressivism">{{cite journal |last1=Massidda |first1=Adriana |title=Shantytowns, housing and state order: the Plan de Emergencia in 1950s Argentina |journal=Planning Perspectives |date=2020 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=215–236 |doi=10.1080/02665433.2020.1745088|s2cid=216296191 |url=https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/19453 }}</ref>

[[Ronaldo Munck]] noted that "many observers even saw Perón himself as some kind of nationalist, socialist leader, if not as Argentina's Lenin." While cautioning against idealistic interpretations of Peronism, Munck argues that ultimately Perón did not differ from [[Tendencia Revolucionaria]] in terms of economic ideology, but rather mass mobilisation, writing: "The purely anti-imperialist and anti-oligarchic political programme of the Montoneros ("national socialism") was not incompatible with Peron's economic project of "national reconstruction", but their power of mass mobilisation was." Writing on Peronism, [[Ernesto Laclau]] maintained that "a socialist populism is not the most backward form of working class ideology but the most advanced - the moment when the working class has succeeded in condensing the ensemble of democratic ideology in a determinate social formation within its own ideology".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Crisis of Late Peronism and the Working Class 1973-1976 |first=Ronaldo |last=Munck |journal=Bulletin of the Society for Latin American Studies |date=April 1979 |issue=30 |publisher=Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) |pages=10–32}}</ref>

In his political science book ''[[Political Man|Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics]]'', [[Seymour Martin Lipset]] argued that the most distinguishable aspect of Peronism is that it is oriented towards trade unions, workers and class struggle, writing that "Peronism, much like Marxist parties, has been oriented toward the poorer classes, primarily urban workers but also the more impoverished rural population." He characterized Peronism as an ideology best described as "anticapitalist populist nationalism which appeals to the lower strata". Lipset also took note of a view that Peronism is a fascist movement, but argued that Peronism can only be seen as a left-wing equivalent of fascism: "If Peronism is considered a variant of fascism, then it is a fascism of the left because it is based on the social strata who would otherwise turn to socialism or Communism as an outlet for their frustrations."<ref name="seymour_173176">{{cite book |title=[[Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics]] |first=Seymour Martin |last=Lipset |author-link=Seymour Martin Lipset |publisher=Doubleday & Company, Inc. |year=1960 |isbn=978-0801825224 |pages=173–176}}</ref> Lipset concluded that Peronism should be seen as a "form of "left" extremism".<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics]] |first=Seymour Martin |last=Lipset |author-link=Seymour Martin Lipset |publisher=Doubleday & Company, Inc. |year=1960 |isbn=978-0801825224 |page=129}}</ref>

In context of political dichotomy of Argentina, historian [[Daniel James (historian)|Daniel James]] argues that "Peronism within the Peron/anti-Peron dichotomy that dominated the political and social context was per se leftist, anti-establishment and revolutionary".<ref>{{cite book |title=Resistance and integration: Peronism and the Argentine working class, 1946-1976 |first=Daniel |last=James |author-link=Daniel James (historian) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-46682-2 |year=1988 |page=208}}</ref> Similarly, James P. Brennan claims that as a movement, Peronism is ultimately a left-wing coalition that appeals to "national popular" tradition, writing that "this hemisphere of the political spectrum would support the statement that Peronism is a forerunner of social democracy."<ref>{{cite book |title=Peronism and Argentina |author=James P. Brennan |year=1998 |publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc. |isbn=0-8420-2706-8  |url=https://archive.org/details/peronismargentin0000unse |page=220}}</ref> According to political scientist Torcuato di Tella, Peronism occupies the same place as left-wing political parties in Europe. Comparing Argentinian politics to Italian one, he writes:
{{blockquote|text=This comparison between the Italian and the Argentine party structures assumes a certain equivalence between the Radical party and the Christian Democratic cum Socialist alliance. On the other side of the main conflict line, the Peronists would occupy a position akin to that of the Communists.<ref>{{cite book |first=Torcuato |last=di Tella |page=155 |title=Latin American politics: a theoretical framework |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=[[Austin, Texas]] |year=1990 |isbn=0-292-74664-4}}</ref>}}