The Argentine economic crisis of 2001 was a catastrophic financial collapse that culminated in December 2001 with a default on $100 billion in foreign debt, the largest sovereign default in history at the time. The crisis was triggered by a combination of economic recession, fiscal mismanagement, and the failure of the currency board that had pegged the peso to the U.S. dollar. The collapse led to a deep depression, a currency devaluation, and widespread social unrest, including violent protests in Buenos Aires.

The crisis inspired a powerful body of Argentine literature, including the 'crisis novels' and poetry of writers like Martín Caparrós and Juan Diego Incardona, who documented the social devastation and the rise of popular resistance movements. The crisis became a central theme in contemporary Argentine poetry, reflecting a mood of anger, loss, and the search for new forms of collective identity.