Women & Social Action - Tracing Women’s Experiences of Activism in the Chilean Women’s Movement

Abstract: The Chilean women’s movement has a long history of challenging state power. The role women played in the opposition against Augusto Pinochet’s authoritarian regime has fascinated researchers. There also seems to be a consensus, whereby the contemporary movement is considered to be divided. Yet, recent developments in Chile have seen a resurgence of women’s activism that has not been studied. The need for re-mobilization points to the idea that women’s concerns and needs have not been adequately addressed in the past, despite their strong presence in civil society. This study explores how women have experienced social action in the Chilean women’s movement, through narrative analysis. Analysing own voices accounts of collective action provided insight into how women organize in Chile; the origins of divisions present in the contemporary women’s movement; important differences and parallels with the women’s movement that opposed the dictatorship; and the presence of vertical structures in Chilean society. In focusing on the experiences of women who were active in the opposition to the dictatorship, as well as the largely untapped voices of women active in the contemporary movement, this project will contribute to future research on similar subjects.