This is the last post for my participation in the English programme, whose has ended because of Chile have been living a social struggle. This is one of my analysis of this.
I going to take the Unit 20 called “Society” like a trigger to develop some ideas around the last fifty days in Chile, a social struggle against several deep inequalities that have taken shape under the neoliberal social-economic model. While the people are protesting and facing the military and police forces in the streets, the political elite has been negotiating internally for achieving agreements that brake the mobilization and can establish “the peace”.
Since military dictatorship in Chile (1973), the growth of warranted social services were replaced by private service systems based on individual opportunities that each person must get with their own effort, fostering a kind of “individual autonomy”, however at the same time, an individual charge for the poorest families. Like pointed out by Güell (1999), the weight of access to basic rights (education, job, health, retirement pension, purchase or rent a living place, etcetera) falls in families strategies to face the inequality.
In the last two months, a social movement has risen with strong demands around the economic regime that has obtained wide empathy and support against the, sometimes, unbelievable inequality and injustice. Until this moment, it has been agreed the change of the current Constitution which doesn’t allow the Chilean State to establish a new security social regime. And the million-dollar question is “How will it be writing this new constitution?”
Although Mayol (2012) suffers of an inevitable propensity to sensationalism, he announced the fall of a model of individual depoliticization we inherited from the old regime socialization patterns, based in fear to the other (Lechner, 1997; PNUD, 1998), toward the secret agents of dictatorship, to the snitch and to the criminal. Without doubts, the awakening of Chile is great news for the democratic political system, because this mobilization has opened a process of political integration of the disaffected people to the debates of the public issues and to build the citizenship. However, ministries, deputies and senators, and political commentators on media don’t think the same way, they see in the popular organization against the government a dangerous threat to democracy, which as well we know, is the best political regime in the world.
Apparently, nobody could be in disagreement with the last asseveration because, in principle, democracy is based under the ideal of freedom, equality and sovereignty for each citizen. Namely, each citizen is able to participate in making decisions about public issues of their community. Nonetheless, in the chilean representative democracy, we all citizens give our sovereignty voting every four years to one available candidate, who would represent our interest in the political debates. In practice, bigger political parties dispute the support of the active electorate and our representatives don’t arise from citizenship and finally, the election day is the only day we are equal.
Hence, the popular fury demanding democratic mandate was a surprise for the government and the opposite coalition due to their disconnection with popular interests. Some democrats backed up the clash with all power of the state against a “secretive and implacable enemy”. Slowly, another part of the political elite tried to calm the riot pointing out that they had listened to “the message”. However, all political responses had low ability to satisfy the popular discontent. Through the powerful student protest, people could take out their anger against the neoliberal rules (mentioned above). Then when our representatives realized that most people felt identified with the payment evasion of public transport as a signal of indignation over economic abuse they started to work in double turns until early morning.
Evidence that some people didn’t want to see was the growing voting abstention since the plebiscite for the end of the dictatorship (Baño, 2004), this fact wasn’t a problem while was legitimating the democratic regime (“you chose to me because I represent many people”).
The citizen work of overseeing policies and to enforce the democratic mandate has installed in public opinion because it has realized that political exercise is useful and when we are working together we can achieve our aims. Citizenship has the ability to refound the state (like “Ex-Plaza Italia” has been founded as “Plaza de la Dignidad”) and making “Dignity” the basis of the society.
The social movement threats its traditional democratic role like a prolocutor of specific demands and it has understood democratisation of representative democracy as a necessity, with new mechanisms of participation (like assemblies) over democratic vices. At the moment, Dignity is to not reproduce the political system.
Güell, P. (1999). Familia y modernización en Chile. Exposición ante la Comisión de Expertos en Temas de Familia, SERNAM.
Lechner, N. (1998). Nuestros miedos. Perfiles latinoamericanos: revista de la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede México, ISSN 0188-7653, Vol. 7, Nº. 13, 1998 , págs. 179-198.
Mayol, A. (2012) El Derrumbe del Modelo. Santiago, LOM Editores
PNUD. (1998). Las paradojas de la modernización. Desarrollo humano en Chile 1998. Santiago: Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo.
“Democrats and democratic fullness”
I going to take the Unit 20 called “Society” like a trigger to develop some ideas around the last fifty days in Chile, a social struggle against several deep inequalities that have taken shape under the neoliberal social-economic model. While the people are protesting and facing the military and police forces in the streets, the political elite has been negotiating internally for achieving agreements that brake the mobilization and can establish “the peace”.
Preamble: A society crossed by a lot of inequalities.
In comparison with twenty or thirty years ago, we live in better material conditions, but, what has been the price we have had to pay? Working under flexible treatment (fixed-term contract, part-time with part-salary), manager companies of pension savings which get a profit of them, humiliating waiting lists for medical attention (surgery, organ transplant and prosthesis, among other medical services) and to have to borrow in extensive sums of money (paying while decades) for studying in university.Since military dictatorship in Chile (1973), the growth of warranted social services were replaced by private service systems based on individual opportunities that each person must get with their own effort, fostering a kind of “individual autonomy”, however at the same time, an individual charge for the poorest families. Like pointed out by Güell (1999), the weight of access to basic rights (education, job, health, retirement pension, purchase or rent a living place, etcetera) falls in families strategies to face the inequality.
In the last two months, a social movement has risen with strong demands around the economic regime that has obtained wide empathy and support against the, sometimes, unbelievable inequality and injustice. Until this moment, it has been agreed the change of the current Constitution which doesn’t allow the Chilean State to establish a new security social regime. And the million-dollar question is “How will it be writing this new constitution?”
Democracy is the best political regime
Miren cómo sonríen los presidentes cuando le hacen promesas al inocente,
miren cómo le ofrecen al sindicato este mundo y el otro los candidatos,
miren cómo redoblan los juramentos, pero después del voto, doble tormento.
“Miren cómo sonríen” - Violeta Parra
Although Mayol (2012) suffers of an inevitable propensity to sensationalism, he announced the fall of a model of individual depoliticization we inherited from the old regime socialization patterns, based in fear to the other (Lechner, 1997; PNUD, 1998), toward the secret agents of dictatorship, to the snitch and to the criminal. Without doubts, the awakening of Chile is great news for the democratic political system, because this mobilization has opened a process of political integration of the disaffected people to the debates of the public issues and to build the citizenship. However, ministries, deputies and senators, and political commentators on media don’t think the same way, they see in the popular organization against the government a dangerous threat to democracy, which as well we know, is the best political regime in the world.
Apparently, nobody could be in disagreement with the last asseveration because, in principle, democracy is based under the ideal of freedom, equality and sovereignty for each citizen. Namely, each citizen is able to participate in making decisions about public issues of their community. Nonetheless, in the chilean representative democracy, we all citizens give our sovereignty voting every four years to one available candidate, who would represent our interest in the political debates. In practice, bigger political parties dispute the support of the active electorate and our representatives don’t arise from citizenship and finally, the election day is the only day we are equal.
Astonished democrats have listened to our demands
As the protests were non-normative (began with evasion and ended with damages in subway stations, even stations on fire) but widely supported, democrats got shocked, because, after barbarism, all member of the political elite is democratic, at least in Chile. In their discourse, democracy (“the best…”) is a pacific regime, with many devices (democratic devices) like separation of state powers, where the dialogue is the basis of policy, as long as it is within the official democratic system.Hence, the popular fury demanding democratic mandate was a surprise for the government and the opposite coalition due to their disconnection with popular interests. Some democrats backed up the clash with all power of the state against a “secretive and implacable enemy”. Slowly, another part of the political elite tried to calm the riot pointing out that they had listened to “the message”. However, all political responses had low ability to satisfy the popular discontent. Through the powerful student protest, people could take out their anger against the neoliberal rules (mentioned above). Then when our representatives realized that most people felt identified with the payment evasion of public transport as a signal of indignation over economic abuse they started to work in double turns until early morning.
Evidence that some people didn’t want to see was the growing voting abstention since the plebiscite for the end of the dictatorship (Baño, 2004), this fact wasn’t a problem while was legitimating the democratic regime (“you chose to me because I represent many people”).
A spectre is haunting the representative democracy: Dignity.
People woke up, and after to break the order began to organize themselves in popular local assemblies and meetings to build popular power and to recover the sovereignty. The weak trust in the political elite didn’t give other option and several processes to self-education started in these rising local assemblies. People have understood that must leave a petitioner position and using the democratic principles for re-establishing the new rules. Overcoming the neoliberal model is possible changing the constitution in the way of to warrant social rights and a fair distribution of resources.The citizen work of overseeing policies and to enforce the democratic mandate has installed in public opinion because it has realized that political exercise is useful and when we are working together we can achieve our aims. Citizenship has the ability to refound the state (like “Ex-Plaza Italia” has been founded as “Plaza de la Dignidad”) and making “Dignity” the basis of the society.
The social movement threats its traditional democratic role like a prolocutor of specific demands and it has understood democratisation of representative democracy as a necessity, with new mechanisms of participation (like assemblies) over democratic vices. At the moment, Dignity is to not reproduce the political system.
References
Baño, R. (2004). Los sectores populares y la política: una reflexión socio-histórica. Política, núm. 43, pp. 35-55. Universidad de Chile: Santiago, Chile.Güell, P. (1999). Familia y modernización en Chile. Exposición ante la Comisión de Expertos en Temas de Familia, SERNAM.
Lechner, N. (1998). Nuestros miedos. Perfiles latinoamericanos: revista de la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede México, ISSN 0188-7653, Vol. 7, Nº. 13, 1998 , págs. 179-198.
Mayol, A. (2012) El Derrumbe del Modelo. Santiago, LOM Editores
PNUD. (1998). Las paradojas de la modernización. Desarrollo humano en Chile 1998. Santiago: Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo.
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