This book investigates why Chile suddenly confronted a violent social revolt in October 2019, after almost thirty years of political stability, during which time the country was broadly regarded as Latin America’s most successful nation. Since democratic restoration in 1990, Chile’s relatively high levels of political stability, increasing prosperity and social modernisation have stood out in a region shaken by political convulsion and economic malaise. In early October 2019, President Sebastián Piñera confidently claimed that Chile represented a true ‘oasis’ of political stability and economic vitality in Latin America. However, just weeks later, the announcement of a small increase in the price of Santiago’s underground transport system unleashed an unprecedented wave of violent anti-government protests in the country, with protestors ultimately demanding Piñera’s resignation and the end of neoliberalism and the 1980 Constitution, among many other demands. This book analyses the causes of Chile’s socio-political upheaval, arguing that the fast social and economic modernisation produced by the neoliberal system led to a series of destabilising socio-political processes in the country. At a time when much analysis of the October uprising tends to be superficial or polarised on ideological grounds, this book provides a much-needed sociological and institutional analysis of the crisis. It will be an important read for scholars of Latin American politics and development, as well as those with a broader interest in state legitimacy, social movements and political contestation against neoliberalism.

This book presents rich empirical analyses of the most important movements in Chile’s post-transition era: the Student Movement, the Mapuche Movement, the Labor Movement, the Feminist Movement, and the Environmental Movement. The chapters illuminate the processes that led to their emergence, and detail how actors developed new strategies, or revisited old ones, to influence the political arena. The book also offers contributions that situate these cases both in terms of the general trends in protest in Chile, as well as in comparison to other countries in Latin America. Emphasizing various facets of the debate about the relationship between “institutional” and “non-institutional” politics, this volume not only contributes to the study of collective action in Chile, but also to the broader social movement literature.

On the Chilean Social Explosion uses the methods of literary, cultural, and subaltern studies to examine what cultural foundations and practices gave rise to this political uprising. On 18 October 2019, Chile exploded into a series of nationwide protests that placed the socio-political order of neoliberalism, settler colonialism, and patriarchy under structural crisis. In March 2020, however, the quarantining measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic put this grassroots rebellion on pause. The author explores and analyzes these five months which have come to be known as the Chilean social explosion [estallido social]. This book will be of value to researchers of cultural studies, cultural and radical politics, resistance and protest, subaltern studies, and Chilean and Latin American politics. It will also interest a broader audience concerned with social movements, grassroots organizing, and expressions of dissent across the world.

A photo-illustrated record of Chilean protest art, along with reflections on artistic antecedents, global protest movements, and the long shadow cast by Chile’s authoritarian past. From October 2019 until the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, Chile was convulsed by protests and political upheaval, as what began as civil disobedience transformed into a vast resistance movement. Throughout, the most striking aspects of the protests were the murals, graffiti, and other political graphics that became ubiquitous in Chilean cities. Authors Terri Gordon-Zolov and Eric Zolov were in Santiago to witness and document the protests from their very beginning. The book is beautifully illustrated with over 150 photographs taken throughout the protests. Additional photos will be available on the publisher’s website. From the introduction: In the conclusion, we take stock of the crisis of the nation-state in the contemporary era. This chapter brings events into the present moment, noting the ways President Piñera took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to reclaim the streets of Santiago, a phenomenon echoed in countries across the globe. While most of the global protest movements were forced to go underground (or into the ether), the Black Lives Matter movement surged in the United States and drew massive amounts of support both domestically and abroad, suggesting a continued wave of grassroots protests. We close with reflections on the continued relevance of walls in a virtual world, the testimonial role that protest graphics play, and the future outlook for revolutionary movements in Chile and worldwide.

"Beginning in October 2019, Chile was convulsed by protests and political upheaval, as what began as civil disobedience transformed into a vast resistance movement. Throughout, one of the most striking aspects of the protests was the murals, graffiti, and other political graphics that became ubiquitous in Chilean cities. In this fascinating, beautifully illustrated book, Terri Gordon-Zolov and Eric Zolov-who were in Santiago to witness and document the protests from their very beginnings -offer a vivid catalog of Chilean wall art in all its vitality, subtlety, and inventiveness, along with reflections on its artistic antecedents, the context of global protest movements, and the long shadow cast by Chile's authoritarian past"--

It is a warm, austral spring Monday in the Capital of Chile. Metro stations are tingling with students and workers ready to encapsulate themselves in underground trains to commute as usual. The ticket fee has just been raised by 30 pesos. A group of young people decide to protest evading the fare. Placing their hands on the turnstile columns, one by one, they leap over the metal bar. This small gesture of disobedience spreads and intensifies with tremendous speed. On October 18, 2019, the government orders to close the entire Santiago subway. It is the day designated as the incipit of the estallido social, the Chilean social outbreak. This modest pretext is the fuse that set off a far-reaching revolt, so strong that it led the country to start a new constitutional process. The author, a direct witness to the events, recounts what unfolds before her eyes through a hybrid genre of writing: the narrative essay. Trying to penetrate the epistemic and emotional process that challenges the status quo and open up the possible, she tells and analyzes the scuffles in the streets and the inner turmoil of those who watch the wavering of known reality. Ultimately, this book is about that angry and happy, chaotic and generative time of crisis in a legal-political order. A phase that is as promising as it is often disappointing.