Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 May 2014, Vol. 4, No. 5, 418-422 Argentina and Brazil: Laws as Mediators of Social Identities Yussef Daibert Salomão de Campos Juiz de Fora Federal University, Juiz de Fora; Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Pelotas, Brazil The research is a brief analysis of recent legislation in Argentina about the intangible heritage and its relationship with Brazilian instruments. This is a study about links between the two laws and their touch points and their differences. It will be seen that the legislative actions follow a common sense but are targeted for different acts of management of cultural heritage. We will be able to observe how legislation, whether it is Argentine or Brazilian, works as a mediator between the reclaiming of heritage (as in the acknowledgement of cultural practices) and the government actions towards cultural heritage. This shows that Argentina, despite not creating specific federal legislation regarding intangible cultural heritage, is aware of the need to preserve the cultural events that belong in this category of heritage. Keywords: law, intangible heritage, Brazil and Argentina Introduction Through the partnership established between Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel) and Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) 1 , the author was able to take part in a research internship from June 2010 to September of the same year in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. The postgraduate programs involved in this internship were the posgrado en Economia Politica de la Cultura—Estudios sobre Producciones Culturales y Patrimonio de La Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (ICA/FFyL), from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and the master’s degree program in Social Memory and Cultural Heritage from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas/Brazil. We were able to observe how legislation, whether it is Argentine or Brazilian, works as a mediator between the reclaiming of heritage (as in the acknowledgement of cultural practices) and the government actions towards cultural heritage. Before we can assess the laws from the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires (CABA), it is appropriate here to make a short analysis of Argentine laws, following legal hierarchy, since Argentina’s federative structure is similar to Brazil’s. Laws and Acts Argentina’s constitution, from 1994, introduced a chapter that brought to light rights and guarantees nonexistent up until then. The second chapter, named Nuevos derechos y garantias, establishes through its Yussef Daibert Salomão de Campos, Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Human Sciences, Juiz de Fora Federal University; master in Social Memory and Cultural Heritage, Institute of Human Sciences, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel); CAPES scholarship student. 1 Programa de cooperación internacional asociado para el fortalecimento de La posgrado–Brasil/Argentina (CAFP/BA), CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior). DAVID PUBLISHING D