Social Movements in Chile: Organization, Trajectories, and Political Consequences

289 Pages·2017·2.632 MB·English

by  Sofia Donoso, Marisa von Bülow (eds.)

organization,
trajectories
& political
consequences
edited by
Sofia Donoso &

Marisa von Bülow
Social Movements in Chile
Sofia Donoso • Marisa von Bülow
Editors
Social Movements
in Chile
Organization, Trajectories, and Political
Consequences
Editors
Sofia Donoso Marisa von Bülow
Universidad de Chile and Pontificia Department of Political Science
Universidad Católica de Chile Political Science Institute
Santiago, Chile Universidade de Brasília
Brasília, Brazil
ISBN 978-1-349-95091-1 ISBN 978-1-137-60013-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-60013-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956816
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P
reface
The idea for this book emerged when we organized a panel on social
movements in post-transition Chile, for the 2013 Latin American Studies
Association (LASA) annual conference. The objective was to bring together
ongoing and empirically rich research on the fate of social movements after
the return of democracy in 1990. While acknowledging that there was a
renewed interest in the study of collective action in Chile, especially after
the massive protests of 2011, we lacked a more systematic analysis of the
possibilities and constraints faced by social movements when mobilizing for
long-dormant policy reforms in a country that has been widely acclaimed
for its economic prosperity and political stability. This debate continued in
a second panel at the 2014 LASA meeting, in which we explored the inter-
twined relationships between social movements and institutional actors in
contemporary Chile and in other Latin American countries. This book is
the result of these discussions. It contributes to a better understanding of
the role of social movements in democratization in Chile and elsewhere.
As we were preparing to send this book’s proposal to potential presses,
we heard that Rodrigo Avilés, a member of Marisa’s research team and an
activist in the student movement, had suffered severe injuries after being
hit at close range by a police water cannon while participating in a rally
in Valparaíso, and was in critical condition. All through the process of
signing the contract, contacting authors, writing chapters, and sending
the manuscript, we followed Rodrigo’s difficult but thankfully impressive
path to recovery. He is a reminder that, even in democracies such as the
Chilean one, participating in social movements can be a dangerous act. We
dedicate this book to Rodrigo and to our students.
v
vi PREfACE
The editors at Palgrave-Macmillan believed from the start in the
potential of this book. We thank them for their unwavering support and
patience. We also thank Nikolai Stieglitz for his revision of the English
language of the book.
finally, we thank the authors of the chapters for their dedication. We
sought and found the best research on social movements in Chile, as well
as the most insightful comparative research. This book will be useful not
only to those interested in the specific case of Chile, but to those who
wish to better understand contentious politics and the blurred boundaries
between institutionalized and noninstitutionalized politics.
Santiago and Brasilia Sofia Donoso and Marisa von Bülow
November of 2016
L c
ist of ontributors
Marisa von Bülow is Professor of Political Science at the Universidade
de Brasília and a Researcher at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de
Chile. She is the author of various books, among them Building transna-
tional networks: Civil society and the politics of trade in the Americas
(Cambridge University Press 2010), and Social Movement Dynamics: new
perspectives on theory and research from Latin America (with federico
Rossi, Ashgate, 2015). She has also published several articles on social
movements in Mobilization, Latin American Politics and Society, among
other journals.
Sofia Donoso holds an MPhil and a PhD in Development Studies from
the University of Oxford. She is a Research fellow at the Centre for
Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies (COES) associated to the Universidad
de Chile and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her research
has been published in the Journal of Latin American Studies, Research in
Social Movements, Conflict and Change, as well as in several book chapters
in edited volumes.
Nicole Forstenzer holds a PhD in Sociology from University Paris 1 La
Sorbonne and is currently an associate researcher at the UMR 201
Développement & Sociétés in france. Her research focuses on feminism
and gender politics in post-transition Chile. Her book, Politiques de genre
et féminisme dans le Chili de la post-dictature, 1990–2010 (L’Harmattan)
was published in 2012, and her research has appeared in Revue interna-
tional de politique comparée, Lien social et Politique, and L’Homme et la
Société.
vii
viii LIST Of CONTRIBUTORS
Francisca Gutiérrez received her PhD in Sociology from the School for
Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS). She is a Lecturer in
Sociology of Labor at the Universidad Alberto Hurtado, an adjunct
researcher at the COES, and an associated researcher at the Center of
Social Intervention and Analyze (CADIS) at EHESS in france. Her
research centers on industrial relations, labor conditions, social move-
ments and organizations. She is currently working on the judicialization of
labor disputes in Chile.
Rodrigo Medel is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Chile, and an associate researcher at the
Observatory of Labor Strikes of the COES. His main research interests are
the sociology of labor relations and the study of social movements, with a
particular focus on the determinants of labor strikes, social movement tac-
tics, and the relationship between collective action and institutional
reform. His studies have been published in Política y gobierno,
Psicoperspectivas, and Revista Calidad en la Educación, among others.
Germán Bidegain Ponte holds a PhD in Political Science from the
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His PhD thesis examines the
relationship among social movements, political parties, and the state, with
a focus on post-transitional Chile. He holds an MA degree in Political
Theory from Sciences Po Paris. He has several publications on social
movements, and on the relationship between social movements and politi-
cal parties.
Kenneth M. Roberts is Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at
Cornell University. He is the author of Changing course in Latin America:
Party systems in the neoliberal era and the co-editor (together with Rebecca
Given and Sarah Soule) of The diffusion of social movements, both with
Cambridge University Press. He also published Deepening democracy? The
modern Left and social movements in Chile and Peru (Stanford University
Press 1998), and co-edited with Steven Levitsky The Resurgence of the
Latin American Left (Johns Hopkins University Press). His research on
the social bases of political representation in Latin America has been pub-
lished in a number of scholarly journals, including American Political
Science Review, World Politics, Annual Review of Political Science,
Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Studies in
Comparative International Development, Politics and Society, and Latin
American Politics and Society, among others.
LIST Of CONTRIBUTORS ix
Colombina Schaeffer is a sociologist with a PhD in Government and
International Relations from the University of Sydney. Her thesis explored
the controversy around the construction of a mega hydroelectric project
(HidroAysén) in Chilean Patagonia (Aysén Region), focusing on the
‘Patagonia Without Dams’ campaign, from 2015 to 2016, Colombina
worked for the Chilean NGO Programa Chile Sustentable, focusing on
the areas of energy, environmental policies, and public participation. Since
2015, she works as a consultant for the Latin American Network of Waste
Pickers (Red LACRE).
Eduardo Silva holds the friezo family foundation Chair in Political
Science at Tulane University. His books include Transnational activism
and national movements in Latin America: Bridging the divide (Routledge
2013) and Challenging neoliberalism in Latin America (Cambridge
University Press 2009), among others. His articles have appeared in the
European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, World Politics,
Comparative Politics, Development and Change, Global Environmental
Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research
Review, and Latin American Perspectives, among others.
Nicolás M. Somma is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Chile and a research fellow at the Centre for
Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES). His areas of expertise
include social movement theory and political sociology. His research has
appeared in The Sociological Quarterly, Sociological Perspectives, Latin
American Politics and Society, Party Politics, Journal of Historical Sociology,
and Acta Sociologica, among others.
c
ontents
Part I Social Movements in Chile 1
1 Introduction: Social Movements in Contemporary Chile 3
Marisa von Bülow and Sofia Donoso
2 Shifting Relationships Between Social Movements
and Institutional Politics 29
Nicolás M. Somma and Rodrigo Medel
Part II Case Studies 63
3 “Outsider” and “Insider” Strategies: Chile’s
Student Movement, 1990–2014 65
Sofia Donoso
4 From Cooperation to Confrontation: The Mapuche
Movement and Its Political Impact, 1990–2014 99
Germán Bidegain
xi