The popular protagonism: experiences of class and social movements in construction of socialism chilean (1964-1973)

Author(s)

Márcia Carolina de Oliveira Cury

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2013-03-21

Examining board members

Evelina Dagnino; Mario Garces; Márcia de Paula Leite; Robert Sean Purdy; Michael McDonald Hall

• Advisor: Evelina Dagnino

Abstract

Since the victory of the coalition Popular Unity (UP) in September of 1970, the "Chilean Experience" has aroused great interest of scholars in the country and in Latin America as a whole, much of which is justified, as it constitutes a singular experience that expressed the possibility of building a socialist society without breaking the institutional mechanisms. Different authors have analyzed this process, specifically the political institutional conflict between the active parties at that time, the internal ideological disputes within UP, and the composition of the military coup. In the most recent studies it is possible to detect a new analytical tendency focusing on inherent manifestations of the Chilean working class during the UP government. Within this context, this thesis aims to analyze the role of the Chilean working class that values the multiplicity of daily experiences in blue-collar neighborhoods, in the working environment, in labor unions, apart from the relations among the social movements involved in that political process and the left parties, essential elements for the making of a class identity centered on shared interests. From the wealth of different sources, such as party documents, unions, records of the Ministry of Labor, pamphlets, newspapers, we seek to understand the involvement of the workers in the political process, and the participation we understand as one of the main expressions of identity of the working class in that society, and the most creative aspect of Chilean socialism. Moreover, analyzing the tensions that were present between workers and the government is at the heart of our objectives. We believe that the role of the working class that went beyond the institutional representative channels, was built on a long political tradition, and that the workers redefined the political project presented by the left wing, based on their own experiences and worldviews (AU)