indigenous Chileans want physical and
material security.
Deeper neoliberal
disintegration
The rise of the new Left, and the growth
of social movements that engendered
it, came about over four decades of
neoliberalism. Savage, free-market
expansion politicised Chilean masses in
ways that contrast decisively with the
politicisation that produced the road to
socialism under Allende. Mid-twentieth
century developmental capitalism helped
incorporate toiling sectors into a common
programme of materialist reforms;
neoliberal capitalism separated working
and poor Chileans from shared politics,
scattering them among fragmented
grievances.
Neoliberal development’s detrimental
effects on popular sector politics stems
partly from its impact on rising mass
movements. Industrial disintegration and
agrarian restructuring scattered working
people. It pushed them to confront myriad
challenges in various social realms.
Fragmentation and marginalisation of
labour structured grievances along these
multiple axes.
When resistance took on collective
form, it targeted specific issues. Students
rebelled against the deterioration of
public schools and rising debt; the elderly
protested against the indignities of private
pensions; poor neighborhoods organised
against polluted communities; women
confronted violence, harassment and
insecurity; and indigenous groups fought
back against the encroachments on their
diminished land base.
Localised fights against mounting
precariousness gradually built up
organisational resources that eventually
sustained mass mobilisation. Yet expanding
popular capacities remained focused on
specific issues and never coalesced with
revitalised labour struggles. As a result,
particular demands—gender, ethnic,
ecological, etc.—continued to eclipse
systemwide reform programmes.
Neoliberalism also affected popular
opinion through its direct impact on
personal politics. Under liberalisation,
working people find themselves inclined
to confront economic insecurity through
individual action. The habit of pursuing
material security individually underpins
suspicion of collective services and public
goods. But neoliberalism shaped personal
politics in another key way. The neoliberal
turn severed ordinary people from the basic
fabric of civic and partisan life. In Chile,
most working people have been cut off
from organised public affairs for decades.
The decade-long upsurge of protestleading up to the estallido, the rebellion
itself, and the constituent process, did not
significantly alter this political isolation.
Mass movements have swelled and grown
in influence, but they have not drawn
the average worker into their politics
and programmes; the Frente Amplio
even less so. When millions of alienated
Chileans turned out to vote for the first
time, no institutional networks linked
them to the new Left’s culture and policy
proposals. Many rejoiced during the
rebellion; even more endorsed discarding
the dictatorship’s 1980 constitution. But
they were isolated organisationally and
programmatically from the new Left.
So millions did not see their coreconcerns recognised and reflected in the
behaviour and output of the convention.
Rather than carefully weaving new partisan
and policy affinities, Chile’s radicals
exacerbated popular detachment and
bitterness.Way forward for the Left
In sum, Chile’s political revolution has
hit a wall. But if Chile’s systemic reform
process has stalled, the Left should not
capitulate. Leftists must oppose the
restoration of progressive neoliberalism,
not via obstructionism bur rather through
a steadfast defence of vigorous state
regulation of markets and public social
provision. The Left must use the positions
of power it has painstakingly won since
2013 to relentlessly press for this policy
agenda.
At the same time, and crucially,
radical reformers must dispense with
narrow social justice orientations in favor
of universalist politics and protections.
This does not mean abandoning the rights
and equality of groups suffering
particular forms of oppression. It
entails placing class-wide demands at
the forefront. It means demonstrating
that there is no competition between
universalist protections and sectoral
injustices. Rather, the fulfilment of
the former provides the strongest
foundation for addressing the latter.
While the plebiscite tells us what
went wrong, it also indicates where to
press forward. In spite of the confusion
and resentment, the neighborhoods
and worksites where the most
advanced sections of Chile’s working
sectors live and toil upheld their votes
for reform. Santiago’s large working-
class townships delivered massive
support.
Relative to the elevated hopes
nursed by the rebellion and Apruebo
Dignidad’s rapid ascent, these
outcomes offer scant consolation.
But they represent a solid foundation
on which Chile’s Left must regroup
into a universalist, democratic socialist
movement. Not only will these sections
fight for class-wide reforms. When
organisationally connected to it, they will
discipline the New Left so that increasing
layers of working Chileans are drawn to,
rather than alienated by, radical politics.René Rojas is on the faculty of
Binghamton University’s College
of Community and Public Affairs
and is an editorial board member of
Catalyst. He spent years as a political
organizer in Latin America.A march in support of Salvador Allende in 1970. Over the last four decades, savage, free-market expansion
politicised Chilean masses in ways that contrast decisively with the politicisation that produced the road to
socialism under Allende.Perspectives for the left