Social history of the urban collective action: the "pobladores" of Santiago 1957-1987

Abstract

What does characterize the collective action of SantiagoÍ€™s pobladores from 1957 to 1987 as the action of a social movement? I propose an analytical framework of four orientations that organize the collective action of pobladores: negotiation of urban rights, institutional participation, community action and revolutionary politics. The history of this urban social movement yields hierarchies of these elements in the organization of its action. Early land seizures are a negotiation of rights supported by an active community; this nuclei subordinates the relationship to the institutions of the political system. In the years of populism the state initiative tied to a myriad of community organizations outshines the negotiation of rights that, at some point, shows its links to revolutionary politics. In the days of Allende, pobladores channel their negotiation of rights to an institutional arena that pervaded community life; revolutionary politics is somewhat isolated from the mainstream. In the eighties, the negotiation of rights and institutional participation are in crisis and community life appears closer than ever to revolutionary politics.

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