Casinos that take care of the poor: the emergence of a gambling commercialization device in Santa Fe between criticism, development and pragmatism
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Abstract
Over the past decades, the global expansion of commercial gambling has been widely observed. Nevertheless, the moral objections historically associated with this activity persist. The development of a "contested market" (Steiner & Trespeuch, 2014), such as the gambling industry, necessitates efforts to neutralize these objections. This study seeks to reconstruct the primary critical and supportive positions surrounding the legalization of casinos in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina, in 2001, emphasizing their impact on the legislation enabling casino operations. Using thematic content analysis, three critical frameworks were identified in contemporary press coverage: the protectionist critique, the moralizing critique, and the productive critique. Similarly, three types of justifications were discerned: pragmatic justification, developmental justification, and justification based on "good causes." This study reveals how these critical frameworks and justifications are inscribed in the legislation authorizing casino establishments in Santa Fe. The findings are contextualized within broader discussions, highlighting tensions between existing literature and this study, particularly concerning the nature of moral resistance and its limitations on gambling offerings. Finally, the paper proposes a classification of critiques and justifications based on their organizing principles and suggests directions for future research.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
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